Iranian Rebels Kill 14 Iranian Border Guards Friday Night So Iran Hangs 16 "Rebels" On Saturday

This is pretty typical of the totalitarian regime of the Ayatollah in that when their security forces are attacked and suffer a huge loss on Friday night, they just round up 16 people at random and hang 'em and use that as a warning for future rebel attacks.  Let's be clear - the insurgents who killed the 14 Iranian border guards did NOT hang - these were people already in custody or under suspicion.  This is flat out murder of the citizenry.

And you wonder if the Iranians would use the bomb on Jews?

The story comes from DAWN.

Sixteen hanged after 14 Iranian border guards die in attack


TEHRAN: Iranian authorities on Saturday hanged 16 “rebels” following overnight clashes between alleged rebel groups and Iranian border forces in which 14 border guards were killed on the frontier with Pakistan, a judicial official said.

“Sixteen rebels linked to groups hostile to the regime were hanged this morning in the prison of Zahedan in response to the death of border guards in Saravan,” Mohammad Marzieh, the attorney general of Sistan-Balochistan province, was quoted as saying by Fars news agency.

“We warned the rebel groups that any attack targeting civilians or members of the security forces would not go unanswered,” he added.

Earlier, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported armed men killed 14 border guards in clashes Friday night in a mountainous region outside the southeastern town on the border with Pakistan.

“Fourteen border guards were killed during armed clashes in the region of Saravan, and five others were wounded,” the agency quoted an informed source as saying, only identifying the gunmen as “bandits or rebels opposed to the Islamic republic”.

Deputy Interior Minister Ali Abdollahi said that the guards had been killed during the ambush set by Iranians who were “members of hostile groups”.

He claimed that “three soldiers have been taken hostage and taken to the other side of the border in Pakistan”.

Saravan lies in the southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan near the Pakistani border and is home to a large community of minority Sunni Muslims, unlike the rest of Shia-dominated Iran.

The Sistan-Balochistan province has seen militants from the Sunni group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) launch bloody attacks in recent years.

It was still unclear whether the attackers were drug smugglers or armed opposition groups.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, officials said a Pakistani was killed and four others injured when Iranian border force personnel opened fire in Washap area on the Pakistan-Iran border.

The apparently unrelated incident took place close to Taftan town on the Pakistani side of the border and around 100 kilometres from Zahedan, the main town in Iran’s Sistan province.

A Levies paramilitary official, who requested customary anonymity, said five Pakistanis tried to illegally enter the Iranian side of Washap area this morning when border policemen opened fire on them.

“Iranian border force opened fire when they crossed Pakistan’s border and entered the Iranian side of Washap area,” he said.

The injured were rushed to a hospital in Taftan town for medical treatment. The Levies official said all injured Pakistanis had received bullet wounds.

Security was tightened on both sides of the border soon after the incident.

Iran is a major transit route for drugs that originate in Afghanistan and is trafficked across its territory, with much of it bound for Western countries.

People smugglers also use the route to traffic illegal immigrants to Europe, via Iran and Turkey.

The Islamic republic says it is fighting a deadly war against drug traffickers who make up half its prison population.

But militant group Jundallah has also launched attacks on civilians and officials in Sistan-Balochistan, including a December 2010 suicide bombing in the city of Shabahar that killed 39 people.

Iranian authorities hanged 11 suspected members of Jundallah at Zahedan prison in December 2010 in response to the deadly bombing of the Shia mourning procession in Shabahar.

Jundallah, whose leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged in June 2010, has been waging a deadly insurgency in southeastern Iran for almost a decade.

The group says it is fighting for the rights of the ethnic Sunni Balochis who make up a significant part of the Iranian province’s population.

Rare Terror Attack Hits Iran, 2 Mosque Guards Killed By Suicide Bomber

Do you ever notice that a suicide bombing inside of Iran just doesn't seem as bad as somewhere else?   LOL

Well, the Iranians got a little taste of what they export across the world when one of their mosques on the border of Pakistan got hit by a suicide bomber yesterday.

The story comes from The Jerusalem Post.

Suicide bomber kills 2 guards at south Iran mosque


DUBAI - A suicide bomber killed two guards as he blew himself up outside a mosque in a restive southern province of Iran on Friday after being prevented from reaching worshippers inside, Iranian media reported.

The bomber set off his explosive belt a few hundred meters (yards) outside the Imam Hossein mosque in the city of Chabahar, killing two members of the Basij militia that were on guard, Fars news agency reported.

"Eyewitnesses said the attacker was trying to get inside the mosque but he was identified by members of the Basij," Fars reported.

Six others, including three children, sustained injuries in the explosion, it said.

Chabahar is in Sistan-Baluchistan province, near the Pakistani border. It has a history of unrest, with the mainly Sunni Muslim population complaining of discrimination at the hands of Iran's Shi'ite Muslim authorities.

An attack by two suicide bombers at the same mosque in 2010 killed 39 people including women and children during a religious ceremony.

The Sunni rebel group Jundollah, which says it is fighting for better rights for Sunni Muslims in Iran, claimed responsibility for that attack, which it said was in revenge for the execution of its leader, Abdolmalek Rigi.

The group is believed to be based in Pakistan and since 2003 has claimed a number of attacks and kidnappings inside Iranian territory.

In its most audacious attack, it targeted a meeting of Revolutionary Guards and tribal figures from Sistan-Baluchistan in October 2009, killing six senior commanders and 29 others.

Iran says Jundollah has links to al Qaeda and has accused Pakistan, Britain and the United States of supporting it to stir instability in its southeast. The three countries deny backing Jundollah.

Are Iran and Pakistan At Each Other's Throats?

As we saw last week, a huge attack was successfully carried out by the group, Jundullah, against the Iranians killing quite a few Iranian shias outside of a mosque - in less than a week, the Iranians hung 11 arrested Jundullah but that wasn't the end of it. Iranian leaders blame Pakistan for harboring the Jundullah group which the Iranians say cross the border into Iran to conduct such operations and now, the tensions between the two countries has led to some ultimatums. Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has basically said that if Pakistan doesn't do something about Jundullah, then Iran will cross the border into Pakistan and do it themselves.

From the article at Breitbart:

Jundollah, a Sunni Muslim militant group Iran says is based in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan, claimed responsibility for a December 15 double suicide bombing in the Iranian town of Chabahar that killed 39 people and wounded more than 100.

Iran has demanded Pakistan take action with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling this week on his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, to arrest "identified terrorists" and hand them over to Iran.

Iran says Jundollah fighters find shelter in Pakistan. Pakistan denies providing shelter for the group.

But in an echo of U.S. demands regarding Taliban sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee suggested that if Pakistan didn't act, Iran would.

Analysts say the strong words from Iranian officials add to growing international pressure on Pakistan to take stern action against militants operating out of its territory.

Well, well, well. Let's get one thing straight here - the Iranians don't seem too concerned that the Taliban are harbored inside of Pakistan and they cross the border into Afghanistan and kill U.S. and NATO troops - and Iran even supplies said Taliban with weapons and munitions. Right? But the Iranians don't like Sunni fighters on the other end of Pakistan doing the same thing to them?

Personally, I'd like to see a full scale bloody ass war between the Pakistanis and the Iranians and in the conflict, we might just see the Pakistanis take out the Iranian nukes - sweet, wouldn't it be? One has to start to wonder just WHO the Iranians actually DO get along with in their corner of the world. We saw from Wikileaks that nearly every Arab country in the Middle East would just as soon see Iran wiped off the map and now we have Iran's neighbor, Pakistan, at odds with them. Throw in the fact that the Afghans caught Iran shipping munitions into Afghanistan and I'd say we have a general consensus that Iran could be turned to glass tomorrow and not a single country would get upset.

So what's stopping us?

Pakistan, Iran jockey for influence after bombings

Jundollah, a Sunni Muslim militant group Iran says is based in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan, claimed responsibility for a December 15 double suicide bombing in the Iranian town of Chabahar that killed 39 people and wounded more than 100.

Iran has demanded Pakistan take action with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling this week on his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, to arrest "identified terrorists" and hand them over to Iran.

Iran says Jundollah fighters find shelter in Pakistan. Pakistan denies providing shelter for the group.

But in an echo of U.S. demands regarding Taliban sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan, a member of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee suggested that if Pakistan didn't act, Iran would.

Analysts say the strong words from Iranian officials add to growing international pressure on Pakistan to take stern action against militants operating out of its territory.

In a review of Afghanistan strategy unveiled last week, the White House hailed Pakistan's steps against militant groups, but said war-torn Afghanistan could not be stabilized unless Pakistan acted decisively against militants sheltering there.

Analysts say Iran may also may be seeking to exploit Pakistan's vulnerability in the face of pressure over its inability or unwillingness to fight militants operating from its soil, to increase its influence as a regional power.

"Iran is ... a major regional stakeholder in Afghanistan and a competitor of Pakistan there. It is therefore likely that Iran is now flexing its muscles on its eastern flank to showcase its regional rise," the intelligence firm STRATFOR said.

Pakistan and Iran have long jockeyed for influence in Afghanistan, with Pakistan supporting the ethnic Pashtun and Sunni Muslim Taliban and pre-dominantly Shi'ite Iran backing the Taliban's enemies in the old Northern Alliance of non-Pashtuns and some Shi'ite groups.

PLACATING IRAN

STRATFOR said Pakistan would try to address Iranian concerns as it already had had tense relations with its two neighbors -- India and Afghanistan -- over militant violence. Both accuse Pakistan of supporting or tolerating militants targeting them.

Indeed, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said his government had assured Iran it would help track down perpetrators of the mosque bombing.

"We have assured them that we will arrest and hand over any Iranian terrorist found in Pakistan and we have asked them to give us specific information," Malik told Reuters.

A Pakistani official said in February Pakistan had helped Iran arrest of Jundollah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, amid contradictory reports about how he was detained. But any trust built by the arrest was dashed by subsequent bombings.

Relations between Pakistan and Iran have been marked by wariness since the 1979 Iranian Revolution brought a radical Shi'ite strain to power in Tehran. But both sides have generally publicly refrained from accusing each other of fomenting trouble.

That's changed, though, with the recent attacks in Iran claimed by Jundollah.

Iran, locked in a showdown with the United States over its nuclear programme, links Jundollah to the Sunni Islamist al Qaeda network and says it enjoys U.S. backing. The United States denies that.

Security analyst and author Ahmed Rashid said Jundollah had evolved through shifting alliances with various parties, including the Americans, the Taliban and Pakistan's intelligence services, who all see the group as a tool against Iran.

Iran is skeptical of Pakistan's denial it is helping the group.

"There is mistrust for Pakistan all over. It's from neighbors, from allies, from everywhere," Rashid said. "It's a very dangerous situation."

Iran Hangs 11 Members of Jundallah Group In Retribution For Attack On Shia Parade

One thing you have to give to the Iranians, their justice system, in regards to Sunni muslims, is swift. Just last week, the Sunni militant group called Jundallah conducted an operation on a Shia parade outside of a mosque in Iran and killed quite a few Shia Iranians and in less than a week, 11 members of the Jundallah group were hanging from cranes today. I've searched and searched and can't seem to find any evidence of a trial.

From the report at DAWN:

Iran on Monday hanged 11 members of Sunni militant group Jundallah which claimed last week’s devastating suicide bombing of a Shiite mourning procession, a judiciary official said.

“This morning 11 members of those belonging to (Jundallah), who in recent months were involved in terrorist attacks in the province (Sistan-Baluchestan), fighting with police, and martyring several innocent people have been hanged in Zahedan jail,” Ebrahim Hamidi, head of the provincial justice department, told state news agency IRNA.

I wonder, do you suppose the Iranians would be cool with this type of "justice" for their boys in Hezbollah and Hamas that Israel arrests? How about those Iranian Qods officers that the U.S. Army arrested in Iraq during the height of the war...would the Iranians said nothing if we had hanged 11 of those Qods officers?

Iran is in a total mess right now and groups like Jundallah know it - this radical group is upping their attacks because they KNOW that the mullah regime is teetering. Just this week, the Iranians have activated their security forces across the country as they begin their own austerity programs and just this morning, I believe I saw that a gallon of gas in Tehran jumped 400% in price.

The people of Iran never did quiet down after the "Green Movement"...at least under the surface they did not. I am convinced that the whole country is just one act, one event from chaos once again. And I've said it before...if we had a President worth his salt, he'd have okayed a CIA mission in Iran to spark such chaos and watch the Iranian regime brought down. Of course, Barack Hussein Obama wouldn't want to do that as it might just take care of the Iranian nuclear threat to America and Israel.

Iran says 11 members of Sunni militant group hanged


TEHRAN: Iran on Monday hanged 11 members of Sunni militant group Jundallah which claimed last week’s devastating suicide bombing of a Shiite mourning procession, a judiciary official said.

“This morning 11 members of those belonging to (Jundallah), who in recent months were involved in terrorist attacks in the province (Sistan-Baluchestan), fighting with police, and martyring several innocent people have been hanged in Zahedan jail,” Ebrahim Hamidi, head of the provincial justice department, told state news agency IRNA.

Jundallah (Army of God) is a shadowy Sunni militant group which has claimed several deadly attacks in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province, including a December 15 suicide bombing in the city of Chabahar which killed 39 people and wounded dozens. – AFP

Suicide Bomber Attacks Mosque in Iran, 36 Killed

Okay, a very brief account of what happened just a few hours ago in Iran but apparently a suicide bomber exploded his device just outside of an Iranian mosque killing 36 with that total more than likely to grow.

From the report at DAWN:

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in the Iranian city of Chabahar on Wednesday, killing 36 people and wounding more than 50 as Shiites marked the climax of Ashura, a Red Crescent official said.

“The terrorist attack targeted pilgrims outside the Imam Hossein Mosque” in the town in Sistan-Baluchestan province, he added.

Unlike most of Iran, Sistan-Baluchestan has a significant Sunni community and has seen persistent unrest in recent years by the Sunni militant group Jundallah.

Now, there never is a whole lot of information that is going to come out of Iran, especially in a situation like this but this is a HUGE attack upon the Iranians. Not only are terror attacks on the Shia Iranians rare but to this extent, very rare.

As you can see in the article, the Sunni group Jundallah is mentioned and you may remember that a number of months ago, the leader of the Jundallah group was arrested by the Iranians and put to death. So, I would say this attack today reeks of revenge.

It's my guess, also, that after this attack settles down, we will see some major crackdown on the Sunni population in this area of Iran - if the mullahs are okay with the open killing of political activists in Tehran, they aren't going to have a problem with the gutting of Sunnis in this area.

Suicide bomber kills at least 36 at Iran mosque


TEHRAN: A suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in the Iranian city of Chabahar on Wednesday, killing 36 people and wounding more than 50 as Shiites marked the climax of Ashura, a Red Crescent official said.

“The terrorist attack targeted pilgrims outside the Imam Hossein Mosque” in the town in Sistan-Baluchestan province, he added.

Unlike most of Iran, Sistan-Baluchestan has a significant Sunni community and has seen persistent unrest in recent years by the Sunni militant group Jundallah. – AFP

Sunni Group In Iran Gets Revenge For Iranian Execution of their Leader in June, Revolutionary Guard Members Killed Today by Jundollah

Whoa! This is huge. As some of you might know, last month, the Iranians captured the leader of the Sunni "militant" group, Jundallah, and then executed that leader, Abdolmalek Rigi. Well, today, Jundollah got its revenge when their attacks killed 21 people including a number of Revolutionary Guard members in Iran.....WOW!

From the article from Reuters (link from Breitbart):

Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundollah said it was behind a suicide attack in Iran which killed at least 21 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, on Thursday, Al Arabiya television said.

The group said the attacks were in response to the execution by Iran of the group's leader Abdolmalek Rigi in June, the Dubai-based channel said.

In an email to the station, the group said the bombings targeted a gathering of the Revolutionary Guards in the southeastern city of Zahedan, Arabiya said.

While I certainly won't shed a tear for any violence and deaths going on between these warring factions in Iran, I think it is key to point out just how far apart the Sunnis and Shia continue to be throughout the muslim world. This attack, this response of revenge is just testament of what we are seeing on a much bigger scale between Saudi Arabia and Iran - two of the biggest hitters in the war of ideology between Sunni and Shia might just affect the next nuclear attack in the world.

Kind of makes you wonder just who is going to be in charge of that World Caliphate they always strive for - will it be a Sunni or a Shia?

Rebel group Jundollah claims Iran suicide attack: TV


(Reuters) - Sunni Muslim rebel group Jundollah said it was behind a suicide attack in Iran which killed at least 21 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, on Thursday, Al Arabiya television said.

The group said the attacks were in response to the execution by Iran of the group's leader Abdolmalek Rigi in June, the Dubai-based channel said.

In an email to the station, the group said the bombings targeted a gathering of the Revolutionary Guards in the southeastern city of Zahedan, Arabiya said.

Iran Captures Top Leader of Jundallah (Sunni Terror Group)

I guess it's hard for me to call a group that seeks to kill Iranian mullahs and Ahmadinejad, terrorists, but I guess I have to be consistent. Iran has caught the biggest fish in their pond as they captured Abdolmalek Rigi, who is the leader of the terror group, Jundallah (Soldiers of God) and who has been a major thorn in the side of the Iranian regime for quite some time.

Here's some of the report from The Christian Science Monitor:

Iran has arrested its most wanted fugitive, a Sunni rebel leader linked to a number of high-profile attacks and alleged to have Western backing, in what Tehran on Tuesday called “a great defeat for the US and UK.”

Abdolmalek Rigi, militant leader of the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) which had claimed a series of attacks against civilians and soldiers in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province from bases in Pakistan, was shown by Iranian state TV being led off a small plane by masked police.
Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claimed that Rigi had been on a US military base in Afghanistan less than 24 hours before the plane he was traveling on was forced to land in Iran during a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.
“Our anonymous soldiers were able to manage his whereabouts and they followed him everywhere he went, and through this he was arrested,” Mr. Moslehi said in Tehran. He showed a photograph of Rigi – with his usual beard shaved off – which he claimed was taken at a US base.

As is always the case, you can to cut through the bullshit propaganda of the Persians and erase about every third word but this IS a significant grab for the Iranians - forget the B.S. about a blow to the U.S. or U.K. or that Rigi was in Afghanistan - the Iranians have been looking for this guy extra hard since the last terror attack by Jundallah and more than likely, they coerced some intel out of some people - believe me, the Iranians didn't use something as lame and tame as waterboarding.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Jundallah now with the top dog in the doghouse - most terror groups don't really miss a beat but this might cause some real setbacks for that group....unfortunately, it's not like they wage weekly attacks or anything so it will be hard to gauge if they are sticking it out.

Iran arrests top Sunni militant Abdolmalek Rigi

Iran has arrested its most wanted fugitive, a Sunni rebel leader linked to a number of high-profile attacks and alleged to have Western backing, in what Tehran on Tuesday called “a great defeat for the US and UK.”

Abdolmalek Rigi, militant leader of the Jundallah (Soldiers of God) which had claimed a series of attacks against civilians and soldiers in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province from bases in Pakistan, was shown by Iranian state TV being led off a small plane by masked police.

Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi claimed that Rigi had been on a US military base in Afghanistan less than 24 hours before the plane he was traveling on was forced to land in Iran during a flight from Dubai to Kyrgyzstan.

“Our anonymous soldiers were able to manage his whereabouts and they followed him everywhere he went, and through this he was arrested,” Mr. Moslehi said in Tehran. He showed a photograph of Rigi – with his usual beard shaved off – which he claimed was taken at a US base.

Moslehi also alleged that Americans had provided Rigi with an Afghan passport, that the Sunni militant had visited Europe, and that he had met with a senior NATO military official in Afghanistan in April 2008.

“We have clear documents proving that Rigi was in cooperation with American, Israeli, and British intelligence services,” Moslehi said, according to Iran’s state-run English-language PressTV. Iranian media further quoted him saying: “Dubai has a smeared hand in this scandal that shows the Zionist regime wants to turn the region into a safe haven for terrorists with the help of America and Europe."

'Totally bogus'
One US official dismissed the claim that Rigi had been on a US military base in Afghanistan as a “totally bogus accusation,” reported Agence France-Presse. Iran in the past has also claimed that Jundallah was linked with Al Qaeda. Iranian officials on Tuesday stated that Rigi's "right-hand man" was also arrested in the apparent covert operation.

Rigi’s capture is a coup for authorities in Tehran, who have accused the US and the West of backing rebellious minority factions such as Rigi’s Jundallah – which has called for greater rights for Sunni ethnic Baluchis in majority Shiite Iran – the Kurdish PJAK operating from Iraq in northwest Iran, and Arabs in the south.

Such groups and alleged US, British, and other intelligence and military support for them have been the subject of speculation for years, as Washington spoke openly about conducting “regime change” in Iran during the administration of President George W. Bush.