Iran Threatens to Chase Terrorists in Pakistan (Just Like US!)
As I noted in discussing the first reports of the explosion at Parchin, early September saw a larger than usual incident along the Iran-Pakistan border, with a force of over 70 militants and a truck packed with over 1000 pounds of explosives attacking an Iranian border station. Thomas Erdbrink then noted last week that two separate incidents along the border resulted in the deaths of “a senior officer” and “three police officers” in two separate incidents in the same region.
Iran is quite upset by these events and no less than the second in command of the IRGC is speaking out today, warning Pakistan that if they can’t control the terrorists in the border region, then Iran will have no alternative but to chase them, even in Pakistani territory:
Iran will step in to contain terrorists if Pakistan refuses to take measures in order to secure its borders to keep terrorists from slipping into the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian military commander says.
“We believe that every country should respect its commitments vis-à-vis its own internal security as well as that of neighboring countries. Border security is a common and pressing need for neighboring countries. We are, in principle, against intervening in the affairs of any country, but if they fail to abide by their obligations we will have [no choice but] to act,” the second-in-command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Brigadier General Hossein Salami, said on Thursday.
“Terrorists, wherever they may be, even on the soil of neighboring countries, we will find them, and if they do not give up acts of terrorism, we will deal with them without reservation,” the senior commander added.
Gosh, maybe the US should go to the UN or the ICC to complain about such a blatant violation of Pakistani sovereignty if such an attack takes place. Just as soon as the US stops violating Pakistani sovereignty with drones, that is.
The article goes on to quote Salami that Iran has very good intelligence on the terrorist groups in the border region and then notes that “Iranian security forces have apprehended a number of perpetrators behind the recent killings” regarding the incidents described in the Erdbrink report.
Gosh, with intelligence that good on the border zone terrorists, maybe Iran will start using drones in Pakistan, too. I can only imagine the chaos that would sow among the chattering classes inside the Beltway.
Nice reminder of the notion of precedents, Jim.
The larger strategy is that as the US gets kicked out of Afghanistan, Iran will be re-aligning, along with India and Russia, with their old Northern Alliance friends against the Pakistan-Taliban alliance.
The parallel isn’t a good one.
The U.S. mainland is not subject to continuous incursions of militants from Canada or Mexico, and Iran has expended considerable effort in attempting to develop some level of border control agreement with Pakistan, but the problem persists.
Now, who would like to inconvenenience Iran and has financially compromised the Pakistani government, hmmm?
Yes, the Baloch independence-seekers know no boundary between Pakistan and Iran, and also Afghanistan. And why wouldn’t the CIA want a second front against Iran interests, building on the success of ISIS as a recruiting advantage.