Iran Ends Mission to Safeguard Iraq Border

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran has announced the end of a special mission safeguarding its western border against ISIL militants in Iraq.

Date: 23 February 2015 - 20:08

News ID: ۱۱۲۹۵

Brigadier General Kiumars Heidari, deputy commander for Iranian ground forces, told the Islamic Republic News Agency that the mission placing army units on the western border with Iraq had ended 45 days after a "red-line warning" was issued to ISIL forces to stay 40 kilometers, or 24 miles, from Iran's border.
In September army commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan said that Iran would attack "deep into Iraqi territory" if ISIL forces came too close.
"In that time, we made them understand that if they crossed that red line, they would face crushing response by the Iranian Armed Forces," Pourdastan recently told IRNA. "We noticed that the Takfiri terrorists had received our message and left the area immediately."
Heidari said that ground forces -- specifically artillery units -- were still in the vicinity of Iran's western border but were no longer assigned to the particular task of defending against ISIL. Pourdastan stressed that this could change, however, and that Iran's military was prepared to safeguard the border at any moment.
Iranian forces have in the past indirectly engaged ISIL militants. A general with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps was martyred by an ISIL sniper late last year as he trained Iraqi troops and Shia militia in Samarra, Iraq.
An attack on Iran's abandoned embassy in Tripoli, Libya, was claimed by an ISIL affiliate in the country on the same day as Iran's announcement.
Iran denounced the bombing. "Accurate information indicates that home-made bombs exploded outside the residence of the Iranian ambassador in Tripoli, but caused minor damage,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham.
She added that Iran is following up on developments in Libya and firmly opposes any interference by foreigners in the North African country’s internal affairs.
Afkham said Libya needs to find a solution to its ongoing chaos through "political agreement and national dialog among conflicting sides" in a bid to clear the way for the "formation of a national unity government" to stop the activities of terrorists and extremists.