Identification and Arrest of 'Ten ISIS Members' at Iran's Borders

On Tuesday, the commander of the Islamic Republic's police announced the identification and arrest of 'ten members of the ISIS group' at Iran's eastern and western borders in recent months. According to the Young Journalists Club website, Hossein Ashtari, the commander of Iran's police, stated on Tuesday, February 8, during a press conference that 'Iran has approximately 8,755 square kilometers of land, sea, and river borders, where the police and border guards are currently present; in some areas, the borders are not blocked, and our equipment is not adequate, but overall, good security is established at our borders.' According to Mr. Ashtari, 'the more blockage and electronic monitoring at the borders increase, the less the presence of opportunistic and anti-revolutionary individuals will be.' The police commander added, 'With the cooperation we will have with neighboring countries and some we currently have, we hope to enhance border security.' Hossein Ashtari concluded by stating, 'Currently, some neighboring countries have not been able to fully protect their borders due to internal problems and instability; we will establish agreements at the national, regional, and border guard levels with the border guards of the opposing country to address insecurities.' Earlier in December, the head of Iran's Cyber Police reported the arrest of 53 individuals who, according to him, 'support ISIS ideology'; he noted that 'most of these individuals were present in Iran's border provinces.' Kamal Hadianfar, the head of Cyber Police, also announced on Tuesday, December 7, the 'identification of 285 websites and profiles supporting this group.' He told Fars News Agency, '34 pages or profiles from these 285 websites were inactive, and a total of 53 individuals who supported ISIS inside the country were identified and arrested and handed over to judicial authorities.' In recent months, especially after the deadly Paris attacks, reports of threats to Iran from the ISIS group have emerged. Meanwhile, the presence of special police units in the central streets of Tehran has also increased. In this context, on November 17, the commander of the 'Nabi Akram' Corps in Kermanshah Province stated that 'many teams' from the 'Islamic State' group 'have been active in this province for the past two years' and 'have been arrested by the Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence.' Ali Yunusi, the assistant to the Iranian President for ethnic and religious minorities, stated on November 29 that there is no movement aligned with the so-called 'Islamic State' in Iran and 'if someone is found individually, they will definitely be condemned by Sunni people.'