TEHRAN – The commander of the Iranian Ground Forces has announced troops will be deployed in eastern and southeastern plains of the country, evidencing that Tehran is growing more aware of possible security threats from those areas.

Newly appointed Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari was making the remarks while attending a ceremony to introduce the first national land-use planning project with a security focus.

“For us to gain ground against the enemy in any possible future battle, we need to react on the basis of a proper land use planning,” he stated.
Eastern and southeastern borders of Iran, vast arid areas, have witnessed terrorist intrusions over the past years, mainly from Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
Five divisions will be deployed in the region, Heidari further added.

“Under the new land-use planning, we deploy five divisions, and this has been possible after our forces received necessary trainings.”
Regardless of concerns over sharing borders with insecure Afghanistan and Pakistan, Iran’s decision may have also been influenced by learnings from what has been going on over the past five years in the Middle East region, particularly in Syria and Iraq.

Asymmetrical combat patterns in plains have come to play key role in many conflicts in the region.

AK/PA