Iran: Retaliation for Suicide Attack Won’t Be Limited to Borders

Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Ali Fadavi responded to the major suicide car bombing against his forces in southeastern Iran today by promising a retaliation, and saying that retaliation won’t be limited by Iran’s own borders.

While it’s not clear if this points to serious plans for cross-border retaliation against Jaish al-Adl, the group is known to have a number of safe havens in neighboring Pakistan, and Iran has been pushing Pakistan to do something about them.

That means this could be a prelude to leveraging Pakistan into acting against the Islamist faction, or suggest Iran may launch some limited cross-border strikes into western Pakistan. It might also just be the usual threats of retaliation after a big terror attack.

Groups like Jaish al-Adl, an offshoot of Jundallah, are not merely a threat to Iran, and are also liable to carry out attacks inside Pakistani Balochistan as well, even if their Salafist leanings make attacking Iran their first choice.