US Says Regional Naval Alliance Claimed By Iran ‘Defies Reason’

"The Islamic Republic has completely militarized Kordestan,” said Hengaw in a tweet on Sunday, warning of what it called the "consequences of the military movements of the Islamic Republic in Kordestan province".

According to unofficial reports, the Islamic Republic's deadline for the authorities of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq to disarm the opposition groups of the Islamic Republic is coming to an end and if the Iranian authorities are not satisfied with the actions, there might be a new round of attacks against these groups based in northern Iraq.

In March, Ali Shamkhani, the then Secretary of Iranian Supreme National Security Council, signed a security agreement with Iraq during his trip to the Arab country to end the activities of the opponents of the Islamic Republic in the Kurdistan Region.

Two months before that, Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, in a meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in Tehran said "Unfortunately, this is happening in some areas of Iraq, and the only solution is for the central government of Iraq to exercise its authority in those areas as well".

Since October last year, the IRGC has bombed the positions of Kurds opposing the Islamic Republic in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan on several occasions.

These attacks came as Tehran accused Kurdish opposition groups of inciting nationwide protests in Iran.

Qasem Rezaei said Saturday that before the Taliban came to power, Iran had good communication with Afghan border guards and jointly managed the border.

“Although there were problems, they [Afghans] were responsive. Today, with the Taliban in power, we held meetings with them in Tehran, Kabul and at the borders, but we still we have problems, because the Taliban forces are not accepting any responsibility at the border.”

The Taliban and the Iranian border guards clashed last week in Nimroz. Two Iranian guards and one Taliban fighter were killed after shooting broke out near a border post.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the incident, in which several people were also injured, but it came amid tensions over water rights.

Iran has accused Afghanistan's Taliban of violating a 1973 treaty by restricting the flow of water from the Helmand River to Iran's parched eastern regions, an accusation denied by the Taliban.

In the meetings with their officials, they admit their forces made a mistake and will not repeat it, but sometime later this happens at another place, Rezaie stated.

“Like us, the Taliban seek to establish security at the borders for the movement of travelers and the exchange of goods, but what is happening is due to lack of attention by some Taliban forces at the border.”

The Taliban themselves are upset with the existing conditions on the border and have made sure such issues do not happen again, added Rezaie saying that “it is necessary for Taliban border guards to wear uniforms and adhere to international laws.”

Ali Saeedi Shahroudi also added that the Prophet of Islam and the 7th Shia Imam also predicted Iran’s revolution and the leadership of Ruhollah Khomeini.

“Islamic revolution took place while the world was under the domination of the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the countries of the world were either part of the Western bloc, or part of the Eastern camp and supported by the Soviet Union,” he added.

However, he said, the Islamic Revolution came took place with the slogan of "Neither East nor West" and relying "purely Islam."

Most of the world Muslims are Sunnis and they do not follow Iranian religious leaders or doctrine.

‘Neither East nor West’ was the foreign policy approach promulgated by the founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and was Iran's official foreign policy motto until ‘Looking East’ came about.

The policy of relying on Asia or the East, particularly China and Russia, was promulgated by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2018, with the catchphrase, “Looking East”.

"We should look East, not West. Pinning our hope on the West or Europe would belittle us as we will have to beg them for favors and they will do nothing," Khamenei said in a speech in October 2018.

“Our young people should pay attention. The enmity of world arrogance will not disappear with tactical retrenchments. Some imagine that if we retreat on some issue, their enmity will decrease against us. This is a mistake,” the 83-year-old ruler said.

‘World arrogance’ is a term coined by the Islamic Republic to refer to the United States, which it claims wants to subjugate Iran. Anti-Americanism is the ideological cornerstone of the regime Khamenei has created during more than three decades of his authoritarian rule.

In the speech, Khamenei seemed to be speaking both about tactical or partial retreats both by Iran and its enemies, but he clearly tells the audience that any concession by the Islamic Republic will not pacify the United States and end its “enmity”.

Khamenei in his televised speech on Sunday praised Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic who died in June 1989. He said the revolutionary leader was a world figure who had a lasting impact on Iran, the Muslim world and the international community.

Khamenei replaced Khomeini as Supreme Leader a few days after the revolutionary cleric’s death but lacked his stature, reputation and political power. During more than three decades, however, Khamenei has built powerful repressive institutions and killed thousands of ordinary people protesting his dictatorship.

Khamenei warned that no matter what diplomatic developments take place “Objectives do not change, confrontation remains constant, but the Iranian nation has become stronger.”

What poses a threat to the Islamic Republic, he said, “is to forget enmity.” He added that across the world there are forces ready to invade others and will do so wherever they can.

Despite his persistence in portraying the United States and the West as an enemy, Khamenei finds himself in an extremely difficult situation, facing a deep economic crisis and domestic unrest.

That reality also was apparent in his speech. He called on his followers to have “hope” and show the same resilience that, according to him, Khomeini displayed during his life.

“Whoever loves Iran and upholds national interests, whoever wants to see improvement in the economic situation, whoever wants to see Iran in an honorable international position, should strive to boost faith and hope among the people,” Khamenei stressed.

He also repeated his long-held argument that “the enemy” most of all wants to weaken the nation’s faith and hope.

This political rhetoric bands everything Khamenei does not like into what the enemy is after. Women’s right, political freedoms, economic demands are all plots by the enemy. His underlings readily repeat this message and accuse those who have any criticism of “working for the enemy’s objectives.”

Along the same rhetoric, Khamenei also repeated his earlier claims that the recent nationwide protests were a plot hatched by the enemies. He told his followers that the enemy thought it had organized everything so well that “the fate of the Islamic Republic was sealed.” They were wrong he boasted.

Government forces killed more than 500 civilians and arrested more than 20,000 people until February, and more persecution and arrests continue.

Amid extremely high inflation and poverty, Khamenei said, “The aim of the enemy is to sow despair among the youth. There are some difficulties, and the enemy tries to constantly remind our young people about these problems. Inshallah, all these difficulties will be resolved.”

He wrote on Twitter Saturday that “if some European citizens are not exploited by foreign security services, there is no reason to arrest them.”

Over the years Iran has detained and accused dozens of Western visitors of espionage, while using them effectively as hostages to squeeze concessions from the West. Detainees do not receive fair legal protection and face sham trials.

On Friday, two Iranian-Austrian citizens named Kamran Qaderi and Masoud Mosaheb and a Danish individual imprisoned in Iran were released in the framework of a recent prisoner exchange agreement with Belgium mediated by Oman.

A week ago, Olivier Vandecasteele, a Belgian aid worker, returned to his country in exchange for the release of Assadollah Asadi, an Iranian agent disguised as a diplomat in Europe who was convicted of a terror plot in France in 2018.

In another development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a statement on Saturday asked its citizens not to travel to Iran.

Baku also asked its citizens who are now in Iran to observe security measures more than before.

Tensions have been high between Iran and Azerbaijan since November 2022 when both sides accused each other of engaging in terrorism and espionage.

Azerbaijan closed its embassy in Tehran after an armed attack on its embassy in Tehran in January and then expelled four Iranian diplomats over what it called “provocative actions.

Tehran has also accused Baku of harboring Israeli intelligence and military elements that plan to use its territory in a possible attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities.