In an exclusive interview for Al Mayadeen, the Supreme Commander of the IRGC and the armed and governmental forces in northern and western Iran talks about the latest developments at the Iranian border with Iraq.
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The Supreme Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and the armed and governmental forces in northern and western Iran, Brigadier General Muhammad Taqi Asanlu
The Supreme Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and the armed and governmental forces in northern and western Iran, Brigadier General Muhammad Taqi Asanlu, said the country's borders are under the control of the Iranian armed forces, but the borders with Iraq are witnessing destabilizing activity.
In an interview for Al Mayadeen, Asanlu affirmed that the situation on the border is stable, and there is no infiltration of terrorist groups who continue to monitor and attempt to carry out operations across the border, pointing out that the Iranian authorities asked the authorities in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region to disband terrorist groups, but there was no response from the Iraqi side in this regard.
"They know very well that we have complete supervision over the locations of terrorist groups at any point where they are stationed," he stressed.
The Iranian commander revealed that the leader of one of these terrorists could have been targeted, but the IRGC refrained from doing so because he was with his wife and family, adding that the IRGC also managed to injure one of the leaders of the terrorist groups, who was transferred to a hospital in Erbil.
He underlined that Iran will target terrorist cells wherever they are and can target homes that house terrorists, noting that the IRGC held about 23 sessions with the Iraqi Kurdistan authorities to resolve the issue diplomatically and informed them of the Corps' position.
Asanlu reiterated that "we have prepared clear files on the terrorists in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, and we demanded that they be handed over to Iran. The sooner the Iraqi Kurdistan authorities hand over the wanted terrorists, the better the situation will be."
Regarding the Iraqi Kurdistan officials' relations with the United States, Asanlu said, "We know that the officials of the region do not hide their relations with the Americans, and we do not interfere in this matter," but he expressed his rejection of any American presence on the borders with Iran, warning that "when we confront the Americans, it is Iraqi Kurdistan that will pay the price."
According to Asanlu, the Americans know that we have complete information about their equipment, presence, and deployment and know very well that we can target them."
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In a related context, the IRGC commander touched on the US sanctions against Iran, affirming that these sanctions are not new, did not affect Iran previously, and will not affect it now.
He also considered that the imposed sanctions indicate the defeat of the US, adding that the Iranian people must know that the issue of sanctions has become outdated.
"Everything they (the Americans) are doing is in vain," Asanlu said, stressing that "we know that the Americans are training and financing terrorist groups in order to attack Iran."
He affirmed that the IRGC is doing everything it can to secure the needs of the Iranian people, adding that rioters and saboteurs do not belong to the people.
This comes after Iran announced submitting more than 70 documents to Iraq regarding the presence of armed terrorist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, calling on the Iraqi authorities and the Iraqi Kurdistan authorities to disarm the terrorist groups.
In a letter sent to the UN Security Council, Iran said the targeted attacks in northern Iraq were carried out in an act of national self-defense, Iranian state media reported.
It is noteworthy that since last month, the IRGC has been carrying out a series of cross-border missile and drone strikes on Iranian-Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq, who are responsible for fueling the recent riots in the country.
Exclusive: IRGC's Qaani did not threaten a ground operation in Iraq
Iranian sources told Al Mayadeen that there is no truth to what was reported by the Financial Times about a threat of a ground operation in northern Iraq by the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' Quds Force Commander, General Qaani, during his visit to Baghdad.
The sources confirmed that General Qaani "did not talk to Iraqi officials regarding the matter and did not threaten a ground or non-land invasion of northern Iraq."
It is noteworthy that Iran's Ambassador to Baghdad, Muhammad Kazem Al-e Sadeq, said that "the commander of the Quds Force visited Iraq and met the three presidents," noting that "Iran has agreed with the central government and the authorities of the Kurdistan region to deploy Iraqi forces at the borders of Kurdistan."
Subsequently, the Iraqi government decided to draw up a plan to redeploy Iraqi forces along the borders with Iran and Turkey, which it said was "a plan to redeploy the Iraqi border forces to hold the zero line along the borders with the two countries."
Read more: IRGC reinforce West, Northwest borders to end separatist penetration