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Iran struggles with border security

An IRGC commander says the elite Saberin Unit has provided Iran with security on its borders.
Iranian anti-narcotics policemen protect themselves from blowing sand at a police barracks on the border with Afghanistan near Zabol, 1,605 kilometers (1,003 miles) southeast of Tehran May 20, 2009.  Iran, which shares a 900-km (560-mile) border with Afghanistan, is a conduit for smuggling drugs to the West from its insurgency-ridden neighbour.  REUTERS/Caren Firouz (IRAN CRIME LAW POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTXKMQR

Middle East turmoil has destabilized more than half of Iran’s borders, warns Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) ground forces. 

“Nearly 60% of the other side of our border is not controlled by the neighboring country, and the border is in the control of terrorist elements,” he said. At a Feb. 18 commemoration for the IRGC’s elite Saberin Unit, which is tasked with fighting terrorist groups on Iran’s borders as well as fighting in Iraq and Syria, he described the region as “turbulent and chaotic."

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