No ground for Daesh activities in Iran: IRGC commander

The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says there is no ground for the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group to infiltrate the country.

“There is no ground for Daesh activities in Iran. Many of the [terror] groups dismantled over the past days were counter-revolutionary groups that have failed [to reach their objectives],” IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari told reporters in the holy city of Mashhad on Wednesday, when asked about Iran’s security situation.

Highlighting the good level of security in Iran amid instability and insecurity in the region, the commander said that maintaining security in the country is the top priority for the IRGC.

Jafari added that the IRGC plans to hold several drills in the future to keep up and boost its military preparedness in the face of any enemy moves.

Iranian forces have recently engaged in clashes with terror groups, thwarting their terrorist activities on the border and within the country, arresting several of them and confiscating large amounts of explosives and bomb-making materials.  

On July 12, Iran said it had arrested at least five people who had planned terror attacks across the country.

Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi said those arrested were affiliated with terrorist groups and intended to carry out their plots during the Laylat al-Qadr (the Night of Destiny) (June 24, 26, 28) and International Quds Day (July 1), but “they were identified and arrested one after another in different cities.”

“These groups are mostly linked to the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group,” he added.

On July 7, IRGC forces also killed two more outlaws affiliated with counter-revolutionary groups in the country’s western province of Kordestan.

In June, a police officer and five members of the so-called Jaish ul-Adl terror group were killed in the Khash region in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry also thwarted a Takfiri-Wahhabi plot to stage attacks in Iran’s major cities, including the capital city of Tehran, last month.

Ex-banker, certain politicians involved in fraud

Elsewhere in his remarks, Jafari confirmed that the IRGC has arrested Ali Rastegar Sorkhe'i (pictured below), the former managing director of Bank Mellat, in connection with a massive corruption case, in which certain politicians are also involved.    

He added that the case was followed by the country’s Judiciary.

Rastegar Sorkhe'i and his deputy were arrested on Tuesday upon a Judiciary order due to their broad activities in an organized banking scam.  

Earlier in July, Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia removed the heads of Mellat, Saderat, Refah and Mehr-e Iran banks for receiving “unconventionally” high salaries. The top bankers were accused of receiving large bonuses, interest-free loans and in some cases tax evasion.

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