IRGC vows crushing retaliation for terrorist attack in Rask

December 18, 2023 - 22:44

TEHRAN- Major General Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has said that the nation would react forcefully to the terrorist attack that occurred earlier this week on a police station in southeast Iran and resulted in the deaths of eleven guards and the injuries of six more.

Salami warned that those responsible for the terrorist incident in Rask on December 15, including the foreign players who gave the order, will pay a heavy price in a statement sent to Iran’s police chief on Sunday.

“The grudge-bearing enemies of the security of Iran and the Iranians must know that the security guardians and defenders of order and peace in the Islamic country will soon... make the perpetrators and orchestrators of this crime taste the bitter revenge for it,” he said in the message.

Iranian officials noted that foreign states had ordered the attack by the Jaish al-Adl terrorist group in Rask, a small city in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

At a burial service for the police officers slain in the attack on Saturday in the provincial capital of Zahedan, Iran’s interior minister, Ahmad Vahidi, stated that terrorist groups active in Iran are supported by the Israeli regime.

After the incident, authorities urged Pakistan, a neighboring country, to take further action against groups that frequently breach borders to commit terrorist acts in Iran.  

In his statement on Saturday, Salami expressed sympathy to the families of the policemen slain in the Rask assault and warned that the tragedy will backfire on those attempting to stir division in Sistan and Baluchestan, where the majority of the population is Sunni Muslim. 

In a message to the police chief, Esmail Khatib, Iran’s Intelligence Minister, said on Monday that the Iranian people seek to hold all those responsible for the horrendous incident to account, expecting the intelligence community to perform its obligations fully and perfectly.

On Sunday, the chief commander of the Iranian Army, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, accused enemies of orchestrating the terrorist attack that took place in southeast Iran, saying their “dirty hands” are clearly visible in the bloody attack.

Stating that enemies’ involvement is evident, he added that his forces would provide full support to the Iranian Police, expressing confidence that the perpetrators would be identified and brought to justice. 

In a message to Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan on Saturday, Major General Mousavi said the “blind” terrorist attack portrayed a plot by enemies to undermine unity among Muslims.

In a statement on Saturday night, the members of the Security Council asserted that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. 

“The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the cowardly terrorist attack on the Rask police station in Sistan-Baluchestan province, Iran,” read the statement.

The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold the “perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice.”

They also urged all states “to cooperate actively” with the Islamic Republic of Iran and all relevant authorities, under their obligations under “international law and relevant Security Council resolutions.”

“Any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed,” the statement said.

Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, in a post on the X platform, appreciated the Security Council’s condemnation of the terrorist attack.

The Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran appreciates all members of and welcomes the Security Council’s statement that condemned, in the strongest terms, the cowardly terrorist attack on the Rasak police station in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan.

Iravani had earlier called on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and also rotating President of the Security Council José de la Gasca to condemn the terrorist attack.

The United Nations also denounced the deadly terrorist attack on Friday, emphasizing that all perpetrators must be brought to justice.

“The United Nations strongly condemns the attack today on police headquarters in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi ordered swift measures to identify the perpetrators and masterminds behind the attack as quickly as possible so that they “can be punished for their disgraceful act.”

The attack, which occurred around midnight, was one of the deadliest in years for the region sitting close to Iran’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Also, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Saturday expressed condolences over the loss of lives in the act of terror in Rask.

“Such terrorist moves by the enemies of progress and security of Iran will not stop the rapid trend of Iran’s development,” Amir Abdollahian said in a message on X.

The terrorist assault on the police outpost in southeast Iran on Friday resulted in the brutal murder of 11 police forces, with at least six others wounded.

The attack unfolded at around 2 AM local time in Rask County, located in the southern part of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, as reported by Iranian media. The Jaish-ul-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

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