Source: Press TV

Iran's Revolution Guards Corps will take over the security of the country's eastern regions, Iran's police chief has announced.

"The fight against terrorists and bandits in eastern Iran will be handed over to IRGC; therefore Iran's Police Force will end its mission in the region," Iran's police chief Brigadier General Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam told reporters in a press briefing on Sunday.

Jundullah terrorist organization has orchestrated terrorist attacks against high-profile Iranian figures, particularly government and security officials as well as civilians in Iran's eastern borders.

Militants of the Jundullah ring regularly cross over into Iran from their hideouts in neighboring Pakistan to harass, kidnap or attack civilians and police officers.

Last June the group abducted 16 Iranian police officers at a checkpoint in the southeastern city of Saravan in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan Province. The hostages were reportedly taken to Pakistan where they faced execution in early December.

Saravan is a city in Iran located in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, in the Iranian Balochistan with a population of 150,000, close to the international border of Pakistan. Sistan o Baluchestan is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the southeast of the country, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan and its capital is Zahedan. The province is the largest in Iran, with an area of 181,785 km² and a population of 4.1 million.

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that US Congressional leaders secretly agreed to former president George W. Bush's $400-million funding request for a major escalation in covert operations in Iran.

Under the ruling, the US can arm and fund terrorist groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) and Jundullah militants.

The group's ringleader Abdolmalek Rigi, however, describes his terrorist cell as a 'national movement' and denies any links to Washington.

Iran's eastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan is also a busy narcotics smuggling route. Iranian security forces often clash with smugglers in the area. The crackdown on drug smugglers has cost the country 600 million dollars over the past two years.

... Payvand News - 04/06/09 ... --