Iran’s Army Ready to Smash ISIL Moves: Commander

Commander of Iran’s Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan warned the ISIL terrorist group that approaching any closer than 40 kilometers to the Iranian borders will draw the country’s crushing response.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, the top commander stressed that the Iranian Armed Force’s harsh reaction awaits the ISIL terrorist group, which he said has announced plans to target Russia and Iran after a recent string of deadly attacks in France’s capital.

“The enemy’s measures will be foiled before it reaches the (Iranian) borders, and Daesh should know that its merest mistake will face Iran’s harsh and crushing response,” the general added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.

He further stressed there will be full security for the Iranian pilgrims who want to travel to Iraq on Arbaeen, saying Iranian armed forces, including the Army, the IRGC and the Police have coordinated efforts to do whatever necessary proportional to the situation to ensure security.

The Arbaeen mourning ceremony is one of the largest religious gatherings in the world.

It marks the 40th day after the martyrdom anniversary of the grandson of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), Imam Hussein (AS).

Each year, pilgrims, mainly from Iraq and Iran, travel long routes on foot to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located.

This year’s procession, like last year’s, is of even greater significance as the ISIL terrorist group, known by both Sunni and Muslims as a foreign-backed enemy of Islam, has seized parts of Iraq.

The militants made advances in northern and western Iraq in summer 2014 after capturing swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the popular forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, have blunted the edge of the ISIL offensive.