Iran’s Tasnim News has said that 25 Iranian Border Guards have been killed. The “martyrs” represent those killed while carrying out their duties along Iran’s border. Iran has long borders but the deaths of these men appear to be due to rising tensions in restive areas. Iran’s own media admits they were killed in areas such as the Kurdistan and Balochistan regions, areas where there is active resistance against the regime. These young men may have paid the price for the anger that exists towards the regime.
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, said that the border guards were involved in stopping the drug trade. He said that they are sacrificing at the highest levels to prevent more imports of kilograms of drugs. He mentioned the Kurdistan region and Kermanshah as areas where the border guards are dealing with drug trafficking problems. Iran’s media says they are also working closely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in their duties. There are 8,755 km. of border where the guards operate.
While Iran’s regime presents the case of the deaths as due to them interdicting drug trafficking, meaning that they died in the line of duty at the hands of criminal gangs, there may be more to the story. Iran has been conducting more operations against dissidents in recent years.
It has also been using artillery against Kurdish fighters, among others. Iran’s regime is deeply concerned about tensions in its Kurdish and Azeri regions, as well as in Ahwaz and Balochistan – all non-Persian parts of Iran. While Iran projects an image of strength, it has many internal problems.
Iran says the 25 men killed on the borders this year are names added to the overall list of some 13,000 “martyrs” killed over the years.