THE Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Intelligence Organisation has strongly condemned the latest terrorist attack in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan, warning that it will deal heavy blows to any terrorists who threaten the country’s security.
The statement, released on Sunday, came two days after the commander of the IRGC’s intelligence unit in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan was killed in clashes with armed terrorists near a mosque in the provincial capital of Zahedan.
Four other members of the IRGC were also killed in the attack.
Before gathering near the Makki mosque last Friday, the armed group involved in the clashes had attacked a police station in the provincial capital city of Zahedan. Terrorist elements then started shooting, prompting security forces to immediately arrive at the scene.
‘Without a doubt, the … Iranian nation and the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will not let attempts against security and life of people and soldiers of the nation go unanswered,’ the IRGC said in its statement.
It warned Iran’s enemies, ‘especially the ruthless secessionist groups and their accomplices,’ that the members of the country’s intelligence services ‘are monitoring all their plots and blind acts of sedition, and will deal deadly blows on them by the Grace of God.’
Earlier on Sunday, the IRGC Chief Commander, Major General Hossein Salami, warned foreign powers against plotting against the Islamic Republic, pointing out that Iran’s enemies have launched this political and media campaign to make up for their failures.
He also vowed that his forces will avenge the deaths of the victims of the Zahedan terrorist attack and that the IRGC will ‘continue to counter plots hatched by arrogant powers and terrorists affiliated with foreign intelligence agencies in Sistan and Baluchestan Province.’
Iran’s intelligence minister also condemned this latest deadly terrorist attack, vowing the Islamic Republic ‘will give a categorical response to atrocities committed by foreign mercenaries across the country.’
Esmail Khatib made the remark on Sunday as he expressed his condolences on the deaths of the five members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), among them the head of the elite force’s intelligence unit killed in the Zahedan attack.
‘Terrorist groups linked to global arrogance should know that they will soon witness the results of their heinous acts, riots and assassination of innocent people,’ Khatib said in a statement.
‘The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and other powerful and determined intelligence, security and law enforcement forces will respond categorically to the mercenaries’ attempts to sow division (among the Iranian people) and their crimes.’
Last Friday, terrorists launched armed attacks on several police stations and public places in Zahedan after congregational prayers in the city, killing 19 people and injuring 20 others.
The terrorists also set ablaze a fire engine, an emergency station, and a bank, among other places in the city, but their attempts to continue rioting failed following quick intervention by the security forces.
In a statement, the so-called Jaish ul-Adl separatist terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Saturday, an informed Iranian intelligence source said two members of the separatist group which is affiliated with the al-Qaeda terrorists – identified as Abdul-Majid Rigi and Yaser Shah Bakhsh – had been killed in the clashes in the southeastern province.
Meanwhile, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi has declared that the enemies have failed to advance their latest conspiracy aimed at blocking the country’s progress.
Speaking at a meeting on Sunday, Raeisi pointed to the recent Western media hype against the Islamic Republic, saying ‘the death of Ms (Mahsa) Amini is being thoroughly investigated’ by the relevant state bodies.
‘The enemy is trying, through extensive media measures, to divert public opinion.
‘We see that a group of Afghan girls were killed at an educational facility by terrorists who have United States support, but there is no reaction from those who claim to be advocating human rights,’ Raeisi said.
‘Under these conditions, does the West’s claim of being concerned about human rights and the rights of women seem acceptable?’
According to the United Nations, at least 35 people were killed and 82 wounded in the bombing that took place at the Kaaj education centre in the Afghan capital Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood last Friday.
The terrorist attack was carried out in the women’s section of a gender-segregated study hall where hundreds of students were taking a mock entrance exam for university admission.
More than 100 Afghan women students rallied in the western city of Herat on Sunday, protesting against the suicide bombing.
Most of the casualties were young women belonging to the historically oppressed Shia Hazara community.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Daesh terrorist group has previously staged such attacks in predominantly Shia areas targeting girls, schools and mosques.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian president said the country’s enemies have plotted in vain to prevent Iran’s progress.
‘At a time that the Islamic Republic is weathering economic problems and is more actively present in the region and the world, the enemies enter the arena to isolate the country, but they have failed in this conspiracy,’ Raeisi said.
Protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who fainted at a police station on September 16 and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, erupted first in her native province of Kurdistan and later spread to other parts of the country, including Tehran.
Despite open clarification provided by the authorities on the circumstances surrounding Amini’s death, Western media left no stone unturned in resorting to a disinformation campaign and sowing seeks of sedition in Iran.
The protests soon turned into violent riots, with rioters going on the rampage across the country, attacking security officers, resorting to vandalism against public property, and desecrating religious sanctities.
According to a statement released by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry on Friday, the rioters have been backed by Western regimes and their mercenary media, who disseminated misinformation and distorted the sequence of events that led to Amini’s death even before the official investigation into the incident concludes.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Tehran and Washington have exchanged more messages in order to bring about the restoration of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and removal of anti-Iran sanctions.
Amir-Abdollahian made the revelation in a phone call with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, on Sunday night.
The top Iranian diplomat said the messages had been exchanged through a mediator while he was in New York to attend the 77th United Nations General Assembly summit.
Amir-Abdollahian also said Tehran is seriously working to reach a good, strong and sustainable agreement.
He said that his recent trip to New York had provided an opportunity to bring the two sides’ views closer, and that Iran believes negotiations are now on the right path.
The roadmap for further cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) was also drawn up when the AEOI chief, Mohammad Eslami, attended the 66th annual regular session of the IAEA General Conference in the Austrian capital city of Vienna, the top Iranian diplomat added.
The Qatari foreign minister, for his part, said the United States believes the exchange of messages and the efforts of the European Union as a coordinator would lead to an agreement on the revival of the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The United States, under former president Donald Trump, abruptly walked out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and unilaterally reinstated sanctions against Iran that the deal had previously lifted.
Talks to salvage the agreement kicked off in Vienna in April last year, months after Biden succeeded Trump, with the intention of examining Washington’s seriousness in rejoining the deal and removing the anti-Iran sanctions.
Despite notable progress, the US’ indecisiveness and procrastination has caused multiple interruptions in the marathon talks.