Severe Criticism from IRGC Commander of Pakistan and Warning to Saudi Arabia and UAE

Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on Saturday, February 16, emphasized the need for revenge for the victims of the "terrorist incident" in Sistan and Baluchestan and warned the Pakistani government to "change its approach towards bandits and terrorists." According to the IRGC commander, "The patience that the system had in the past against the conspiracies and reactionary governments in the region, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are behind these actions, will be different this time." Major General Jafari continued: "If Pakistan does not fulfill its responsibilities in combating terrorism, Iran will punish the mercenaries organized by regional and extra-regional intelligence services." Jafari, severely criticizing the Pakistani government, stated: "Since the Pakistani government has sheltered these elements and knows their locations, it must be held accountable and is expected to seriously address its responsibilities regarding the security of the shared borders and not allow terrorists to use the border areas of this country with Iran as a base for carrying out anti-security actions against the Iranian nation." The IRGC commander referred to the remarks of Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, stating: "The situation is different from the past, and the Pakistani government must change its approach towards these counter-revolutionary elements." Each time after similar incidents in the border areas of Iran and Pakistan, the government and officials of the Islamic Republic have made similar criticisms of Pakistan's performance and demanded actions from that country regarding the security of border areas with Iran, but usually, the Pakistani government has not reacted to these warnings and criticisms. Last Wednesday night, a suicide attack targeted a bus carrying personnel of the IRGC in Sistan and Baluchestan on the Khash-Zahedan route. According to the "Quds Headquarters" of the IRGC Ground Forces, at least 27 passengers were killed and 13 others were injured in the suicide attack on this bus. Shortly after, a group known as "Jaish al-Adl" claimed responsibility for the attack. The UN Security Council condemned the attack on the IRGC bus the day after the incident, labeling it a terrorist act and condemning it in the "strongest terms." Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hassan Rouhani, also condemned this suicide attack in separate messages, attributing it to "the intelligence organizations of some regional and extra-regional countries" and promised to punish the "perpetrators and instigators." Major General Jafari described this suicide attack as stemming from "the conspiracies and support of reactionary governments in the region under the orders of the US and Zionists" and stated: "We will certainly take compensatory actions." The dead and injured from this suicide attack were border guards of the IRGC Ground Forces from the Imam Hussein Division of Isfahan Province. In recent months, several similar incidents have occurred in Sistan and Baluchestan, including an attack on a morning ceremony for soldiers in the Basij Resistance District in Nikshahr in mid-February, which resulted in one death and two injuries; it was announced on Saturday, February 16, that one of the injured from that incident had also died. A week before that, Iranian news agencies reported two explosions in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Local news sources reported that after a "huge explosion" was heard in Zahedan, the police chief of Sistan and Baluchestan Province stated that the explosion of a "homemade" grenade and a "suspicious" package resulted in injuries to three police officers. The group Jaish al-Adl also claimed responsibility for this incident. A month prior, in mid-January, armed individuals shot at a traffic police vehicle in Zahedan, resulting in the death of one police officer. No group claimed responsibility for that shooting, but media close to the IRGC identified the perpetrators as "bandits." However, the most horrific incident of this kind in Sistan and Baluchestan occurred in mid-December of this year when, for the first time in Iran, a suicide vehicle attempted to enter the police command headquarters in the city of Chabahar but exploded at the entrance of this facility due to the resistance of the protective forces, resulting in two deaths and 40 injuries. A week after that "terrorist" incident, law enforcement sources reported the identification and arrest of all the perpetrators. Some reports attributed the responsibility for that suicide explosion to the group "Ansar al-Furqan." In recent months, there have also been reports of the abduction of several Iranian border guards, who are said to have been taken to Pakistan. These incidents, apart from sporadic clashes between law enforcement and intelligence forces in Sistan and Baluchestan with "bandits or drug traffickers," have been reported.