News / Defense

Terrorists arrested in Iran admit US, Saudi backing: IRGC

Friday, 24 June 2016 6:32 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 24 June 2016 6:48 AM ]

Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Ground Forces of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says members of a terrorist group captured in southwest Iran last week have admitted to US and Saudi support.

“These people have admitted to the broad aspects of their crimes and the supportive role played by Saudi Arabia and the United States in the advancement of the cell’s objectives,” an IRGC commander said Thursday.

Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the IRGC’s Ground Forces, said details will be made public later.

The group was dismantled in the city of Khash in Iran’s Sistan-and-Baluchestan Province last week.

Pakpour said one of the terrorists later died of injuries sustained during the arrest, while the other is in custody.

Washington and Riyadh, Pakpour said, are attempting to organize and reinforce terror groups and counter-revolutionary elements in Iran’s geographical periphery, groups that he said have been weakened for years and confronted by Iranian security forces in border areas.

Over the past several days, a number of terror activities were thwarted on the border and within the country, he said. “These groups had meant to attack the people of the area and a number of central cities using powerful ammunition,” the general said.

Pakpour also warned that the enemy is seeking to cause ethnic conflict among Iranians as a means of dividing them.

In earlier remarks, Pakpour had said that the IRGC forces had engaged in clashes with two terrorist groups in the country’s northwest near the border with Iraq, killing a number of terrorists.

After thwarting a Takfiri-Wahhabi plot to stage attacks in Tehran, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry released a video on Wednesday showing the security forces raiding the hideout of the terrorists in the capital.

A day earlier, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi had briefed reporters on the recent swoop, saying that as many as 10 terrorists had been apprehended from June 14 to 20 in Tehran and three border and central provinces.

Alavi said the militants were planning remote-controlled explosions, suicide bombings, and car bombings at crowded areas.

The minister said some 100 kilograms of explosives and bomb-making materials have so far been seized. Security forces also intercepted two tons of explosives during “complex and covert intelligence operations” before they could reach the attackers.

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