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Iran plans to close off borders

23 April 2011 19:24 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Iran’s Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs Ali Abdollahi says Tehran plans to close off borders to prevent terrorist groups from entering the country, APA reports quoting Press TV.

â€œThe comprehensive project of sustainable security will soon be implemented in the country’s borders,â€ Abdollahi said on Saturday.

Abdollahi said Iran’s southwestern, northwestern and western borders were the Interior Ministry’s priorities, adding that â€œthis plan will be implemented on all borders in order to prevent unauthorized crossings especially for terrorists.â€

The Iranian official said the project has already begun in some of the border provinces and would soon start in other areas such as Kurdistan.

Iran has 5,440 kilometers of land borders. The country shares its northern borders with Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan which extend for more than 2,000 kilometers, including about 650 kilometers of water along the southern shore of the Caspian Sea.
Iran’s western borders are with Turkey in the north and Iraq in the south, and to the east with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman littoral states form the country’s 1,770 kilometers of southern border.

Iran and Iraq signed a memorandum of understanding on improving border cooperation in October to step up the campaign against terrorism and prevent illegal border crossings.

The Islamic Republic is also building a border barrier on its border with Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based group Jundullah has been known to cross into Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province to carry out terrorist attacks.