The commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces has warned enemies that they would be given no breathing space near the country’s borders, adding that there was no immediate threat to border areas amid the ongoing conflict between the Republic of Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia.
“The enemy must know that we will give [it] no breathing room near Iran’s borders,” Brigadier General Kioumars Heidari told reporters after inspecting border areas with the two warring South Caucasian countries.
Among the areas inspected by the commander was East Azarbaijan Province’s Khoda-Afarin County that has played an unwilling host to some stray bullets from a September 27-present flare-up between the ex-Soviet republics.
Iran has warned that it would not tolerate even accidental violation of its border security as a result of the conflict that has seen the two sides trade heavy deadly fire over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The escalation and its potential fallout for the Islamic Republic have prompted inspections by Iranian military top brass to the border areas and had Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) deploy a mechanized brigade in the whereabouts.
Heydari, however, assured that the country’s borders were not under any threat, declaring, “The people of Iran enjoy complete security thanks to the alertness of the Armed Forces.”
The commander’s visit featured appraisal of the operation readiness of the Ground Forces’ aerial support groups, including helicopter squadrons, and its land-based defense systems. “We have a duty towards monitoring borders and updating our capabilities,” he added.
The Army, the commander assured again, was invariably and completely ready to defend the areas that run along the Islamic Republic’s borders, and its servicemen would sacrifice life and limb to ensure border security.
The Islamic Republic has, meanwhile, prepared a peace initiative to propose to Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as important regional players Russia and Turkey towards resolution of the decades-long territorial dispute.
It has, meanwhile, urged the fighting sides to spare civilian lives, while calling on Yerevan to respect Azerbaijan’s territorial sovereignty in light of the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as an Azeri territory.
Source: Iranian Agencies
