Jundallah
Encyclopedia
Jundallah, or Jondollah , also known as People's Resistance Movement of Iran (PRMI) (not to be confused with People's Mujahedin of Iran
), is an organization based in Balochistan
that claims to be fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran. It was founded by Abdolmalek Rigi
who was captured and executed in Iran in 2010. It is believed to have between 700 to 2,000 fighters and is said to be responsible for killing 154 and injuring 320 Iranian citizens since 2003, while Jundullah commanders claim the group has killed up to 400 Iranian soldiers.
The group has been designated a terrorist organization by Iran, and the United States
and it has been linked to, and taken credit for, numerous acts of terror, kidnapping and the smuggling of narcotics. Many observers believe the group is linked to al-Qaeda
. Iran has long alleged that the U.S. government is supporting Jundallah. Several other sources such as the ABC News
, Daily Telegraph, and journalist Seymour Hersh
have also reported that Jundullah has received support from the United States against the government of Iran, although the US denies any involvement.
of Baluchi Autonomist Movement
, which was created and supported by Saddam Hussein
along with other militant groups like Mujahideen-e Khalq, to wage a proxy war on Iran during the Iran-Iraq war
. There appears to be at least another militant organization with the name of Jundallah operating independently in Pakistan.
Iran accuses the United States and other foreign elements of backing Jundallah, possibly from Pakistani territory with Islamabad's support, despite Pakistan's apparent history of cooperation with Iran to suppress trans-border militant, whereas Jundallah denies any connections to al-Qaeda
or the Taliban, as well as foreign governments such as the United States and Great Britain. The United States also denies any support or involvement with this group.
In an October 17, 2008 interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV, its leader Abdolmalek Rigi
stated the group had given "over 2,000 men" military, political and ideological training but that the number of its members "in the mountains does not exceed 200." It has also been alleged that Jundallah is involved in smuggling Iranian diesel fuel to Afghanistan
and Pakistan
, price of which is more than five times cheaper than the diesel fuel in Afghanistan
and Pakistan
. The diesel fuel is then bartered with opium
, which is smuggled into Iran
from Afghanistan
and Pakistan
to be sold in Iran
.
, however, always denied the organization had any separatist agenda, or foreign links, claiming that they merely fight for equal rights for Sunni Muslims in predominantly Shi'a Iran.
In an interview with Rooz
(an Iranian online newspaper), Rigi declared himself an Iranian and stating Iran was his home, and that he merely aimed at improving the lives of Sunni Baluchis in a democratic Iran. Dan Rather
's US cable channel HDnet
's television news magazine Dan Rather Reports, also interviewed Rigi and showed a video of Rigi personally cutting off his brother in-law Shahab Mansouri's head. In the same interview, Rigi described himself as "an Iranian" and denied that his goal is to form a separate Baluch state. He claimed that his goal is to "improve conditions for ethnic Baluchis", and that his group is "fighting exclusively for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran"
In an October 17, 2008 interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV, Abdolmalek stated, "the only thing we ask of the Iranian government is to be citizens. We want to have the same rights as the Iranian Shiite people. That's it." He described his group as an Islamic awakening movement but denied any ties with Al Qaeda or the Taliban. He also told the interviewer that despite the fact that "many of us have been martyred ... we are prepared to reach an understanding with the Iranian government, Insha Allah."
. On February 26 Rigi appeared on Iranian TV, claiming that the U.S. promised him financial and military aid to fight the Iranian government, which the U.S. denied. He was executed on June 20, 2010.
In the wake of Rigi's capture and execution, alarab claimed that Jundallah named Muhammad Dhahir Baluch
as his replacement.
and Christopher Isham
of ABC News
in April 2007 alleged that Jundallah "has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials" to destabilize the government in Iran, citing U.S.
and Pakistani tribal and intelligence sources. The report alleges that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
discussed the activity of the group against Iran during his visit to Pakistan. In a blog
, the network stated that the support was believed to have started in 2005 and been arranged so that the U.S. provided no direct funding to the group, which would require congressional
oversight and attract media attention, drawing parallels between American support for Jundallah and U.S. involvement in Nicaragua
.
The report was denied by Pakistan
official sources. But despite their denial ABC
stood by their claim. Alexis Debat
, one of the sources quoted by Ross and Isham in their report alleging US support for the Jundullah, resigned from ABC News in June 2007, after ABC officials claimed that he faked several interviews while working for the company. Ross went on to say the Jundullah story had many sources, adding, "We’re only worried about the things Debat supplied, not about the substance of that story." According to Ross, ABC had found nothing that would undermine the stories Mr. Debat worked on. However, he acknowledged that as the stories of fabrications continue to roll in, the network "at some point has to question whether anything he said can be believed." This caused the network in 2007 to send a second team of producers to Pakistan investigating the original reports.
Fars News Agency
, an Iranian state run news agency, reported that the United States government is involved in PRMI's terrorists acts.
Gholamali Haddadadel, Iranian parliament speaker in 2007, told reporters that Jundallah is part of pressure tactics used by United States to subdue Iran, and hoped with Pakistani help, Iran would be able to defeat Jundallah.
On April 2, 2007, Abdolmalek Rigi appeared on the Persian
service of Voice of America
, the official broadcasting service of the United States government, which identified Rigi as "the leader of popular Iranian resistance movement" and used the title of "Doctor
" with his name. This incidence resulted in public condemnation by the Iranian-American community in the U.S, many of whom are opponents of the Iranian government, as well as Jundallah.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh
revealed another report in July 2008 that US congressional leaders had secretly agreed to former president George W. Bush
's USD 400 million funding request, which gives the US a free hand in arming and funding terrorist groups such as Jundullah militants.
Three days after the 2009 terror attack against Zahidan mosque, Iranian speaker of parliament Ali Larijani
revealed, hat Iran
had intelligence
reports regarding the United States
links with certain terrorist groups operating against Iran and accused the United States of commanding them. He implicated the United States in trying to start a civil war
between Shia and Sunni segments of Iranian society. Regarding the investigation of the terrorist act he added that Iran would want Pakistan
to cooperate fully and not become a mere part of the designs against Iran.
According to The Daily Telegraph
Jundallah is just one part of a Black Operation
Plan involving psychological operations and other covert operations to support dissents among minorities (Baloch, Arab, Kurds, Azeris, etc.) in Iran, which along with tactics of military posturing, risky maneuvers and occasional conciliatory gestures are designed to improve United States bargaining position in any future negotiation with Iran. Furthermore these Black Operation
s build upon a coordinated campaign consisting of disinformation, placement of negative newspaper articles, propaganda broadcasts, the manipulation of Iran's monetary currency and international banking transactions.
Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi
, has said, United States intelligence operatives have been meeting and coordinating with Anti-Iranian militants in Afghanistan
as well as encouraging drug smuggling into Iran.
A former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army
General Aslam Beg has accused the Coalition Forces in Afghanistan
of training and supporting Jundallah against Iran
.
After Rigi was arrested on 23 February 2010 Iran's intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi at a press conference in Tehran claimed that Rigi had been at a US base in Afghanistan
24 hours before his arrest. At a press conference he flourished a photograph which he said showed Rigi outside the base with two other men, though he gave no details of where the base was, or how or when the photograph was obtained. Photographs were also shown of an Afghan passport and identity card said to have been given by the Americans to Rigi. Moslehi also alleged that Rigi had met the then NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
, in Afghanistan in 2008, and had visited European countries. He said agents had tracked Rigi's movements for five months, calling his arrest "a great defeat for the US and UK".
On February 25 Iranian state television broadcast a statement by Rigi stating he had had American support and that
BBC
News carried a report on the statements, noting that "It is not possible to say whether Abdolmalek Rigi made the statement freely or under duress." The US has denied having links with Rigi's group, Jundullah. Reuters also reported that Geoff Morrell, Pentagon
press secretary, dismissed claims by the Iranian government that Mr. Rigi had been at an American military base just before his arrest. Morrell called the accusations of American involvement “nothing more than Iranian propaganda.”
On November 3, 2010, the U.S. Department of State officially designated Jundallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
, thereby making it a crime for any person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide material support or resources to Jundallah.
revenues, getting financial as well as ideologic support directly from Saudi Arabia
in collusion with other hard-line elements within Pakistan
and Afghanistan
. Others point to the fact that United States has for long supported Low intensity conflict
and assassinations with Saudi money, especially against nationalists, socialists and Shias.
has traveled to Pakistan
, United Arab Emirates
, Sweden
and France
investigating Jundallah and its funding sources. On the US cable channel HDnet
's television news magazine Dan Rather Reports
, he indicated that support comes from Balochis in Sweden where Radio Baloch FM is broadcast from Stockholm.
for supporting Jundallah.
In a BBC
production "Panorama: Obama and the Ayatollah", a terrorist organisation which has carried out acts of terror leading to death of civilians and children in Iran is briefly mentioned but not named, with the official prosecution files and their Interpol
warrants blacked out in video. The international warrants call for their arrest under international anti-terrorism laws, which has not happened and Tehran blames western governments particularly British government for protecting them from an international arrest.
with financial support of Saudi Arabia and its supplementation through the largest opium black market in the world have woven a complicated web of drug smugglers and terrorists to project power in the region and beyond. General Hasan Firoozabadi of Iranian Army said, one of the main bases of Jundallah has been identified and pointed out to Pakistan and Iran is awaiting for Pakistan's action on the matter. In a rare criticism Iranian Intelligence
minister after the Saravan attack claimed Pakistan is not meaningfully cooperating with Iran on the issue of Jundallah.
At least some Iranian analysts believe this huge transnational web comprising economic, political and military dimensions is ultimately being run by CIA (Special Activities Division
), aiming to topple or at least weaken Iranian government; with Pakistan just being a pawn much like the earlier United States support for Mujahedin against Soviet Union
with collaboration of Pakistan. These analysts believe the ideological element supporting Jundallah and similar groups come from religious madrassah's of Pakistan supported religiously and financially by the USA and Saudi Arabia
.
. Guards commander Qasem Rezaei said, "This blind terrorist operation led to the martyrdom of 18 citizens of Zahedan" and attributed the attack to "insurgents and elements of insecurity." Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack on 15 February.
Iranian security forces also arrested five suspects, two of whom were carrying camcorders and grenades when they were arrested, while the police killed the main "agent" of the attack. Among the arrestees was Said Qanbarzehi, a Balochi, who was hanged in Zahedan prison on 27 May 2007. He had been sentenced to death at the age of 17 along with six other Balochi men—Javad Naroui, Masoud Nosratzehi, Houshang Shahnavazi, Yahya Sohrabzehi, Ali Reza Brahoui and Abdalbek Kahrazehi (also known as Abdalmalek) -- in March 2007, despite the absolute international prohibition on the execution of child offenders. Two days later on Friday, Feb 16 2007, Jundallah bombed a girls school in city of Zahedan and the leader of the group took responsibility for it on the official TV of MEK
.
as mourners participated in a ceremony marking the death of the daughter of the prophet of Islam, which killed 25 people and injured 125 others, less than 3 weeks before the Iranian 2009 presidential elections. The Iranian government promptly accused the United States
of having financed and orchestrated the attack in order to destabilize the nation in the lead up to its presidential election. Two days after the attack, three men were publicly hanged for smuggling the explosives used in attack into Iran from Pakistan. The trio were already in prison at the time of attack and had been tried for previous attacks by Jundallah including 2007 Zahedan bombings
. Interior Minister Sadegh Mahsouli
said in a statement posted on the internet Friday that "those who committed the Thursday bombing are neither Shia nor Sunni. They are Americans
and Israelis." Abdel Raouf Rigi, the spokesman for Jundallah claimed responsibility on a Saudi Arabian state owned TV channel, Al-Arabiya.
Jundallah has also been named as a possible source of a pair of motorcycle bomb attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists on November 28, 2010
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mujahedin of Iran is a terrorist militant organization that advocates the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran....
), is an organization based in Balochistan
Balochistan (Pakistan)
Balochistan is one of the four provinces or federating units of Pakistan. With an area of 134,051 mi2 or , it is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total land mass of Pakistan. According to the 1998 population census, Balochistan had a population of...
that claims to be fighting for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran. It was founded by Abdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmajid Rigi or Abdolmalek Rigi was the leader of Jundallah, an Islamist Sunni militant organization based in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran, until his capture and execution in 2010 by the Iranian government.-Biography:Born in 1983, Abdolmalek Rigi is from the Regi tribe...
who was captured and executed in Iran in 2010. It is believed to have between 700 to 2,000 fighters and is said to be responsible for killing 154 and injuring 320 Iranian citizens since 2003, while Jundullah commanders claim the group has killed up to 400 Iranian soldiers.
The group has been designated a terrorist organization by Iran, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and it has been linked to, and taken credit for, numerous acts of terror, kidnapping and the smuggling of narcotics. Many observers believe the group is linked to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. Iran has long alleged that the U.S. government is supporting Jundallah. Several other sources such as the ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, Daily Telegraph, and journalist Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
Seymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
have also reported that Jundullah has received support from the United States against the government of Iran, although the US denies any involvement.
Background
Jundallah is thought to have began in 2003 and it is known for attacks against high-profile Iranian targets, both military and civilian. Its origin and structure remain murky. It has been suggested that it might be an offshootGovernment spin-off
Government spin-off is civilian goods which are the result of military or governmental research. One prominent example of a type of government spin-off is technology that has been commercialized through NASA funding, research, licensing, facilities, or assistance. NASA spin-off technologies have...
of Baluchi Autonomist Movement
Baluchi Autonomist Movement
The Baluchi Autonomist Movement was an ethnic Baluchi guerrilla movement in Iranian Balochistan led by Mowlawi Abdul Aziz Mollazadeh in the 1980s. The movement was supported by the Iraqi government. The BAM's main demands were limited autonomy and economic concessions for Iranian Baluchis...
, which was created and supported by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
along with other militant groups like Mujahideen-e Khalq, to wage a proxy war on Iran during the Iran-Iraq war
Iran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
. There appears to be at least another militant organization with the name of Jundallah operating independently in Pakistan.
Iran accuses the United States and other foreign elements of backing Jundallah, possibly from Pakistani territory with Islamabad's support, despite Pakistan's apparent history of cooperation with Iran to suppress trans-border militant, whereas Jundallah denies any connections to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
or the Taliban, as well as foreign governments such as the United States and Great Britain. The United States also denies any support or involvement with this group.
In an October 17, 2008 interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV, its leader Abdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmajid Rigi or Abdolmalek Rigi was the leader of Jundallah, an Islamist Sunni militant organization based in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran, until his capture and execution in 2010 by the Iranian government.-Biography:Born in 1983, Abdolmalek Rigi is from the Regi tribe...
stated the group had given "over 2,000 men" military, political and ideological training but that the number of its members "in the mountains does not exceed 200." It has also been alleged that Jundallah is involved in smuggling Iranian diesel fuel to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, price of which is more than five times cheaper than the diesel fuel in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. The diesel fuel is then bartered with opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
, which is smuggled into Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
from Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to be sold in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
Terrorist designation
Though the United States State Department under Hillary Clinton weighed designating Jundullah as a terrorist organization in 2009, it wasn't until November 3, 2010, that it designated Jundallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, noting that Jundallah "has engaged in numerous attacks resulting in the death and maiming of scores of Iranian civilians and government officials. Jundallah uses a variety of terrorist tactics, including suicide bombings, ambushes, kidnappings and targeted assassinations." Iran hailed the decision.Views and goals
Jundullah have been referred to as separatists by various media, and Iranian leaders have stated that Jundullah is proxy group used by the enemies of Iran to destabilise the Islamic Republic. The group's (now dead) leader Abdolmalek RigiAbdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmajid Rigi or Abdolmalek Rigi was the leader of Jundallah, an Islamist Sunni militant organization based in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran, until his capture and execution in 2010 by the Iranian government.-Biography:Born in 1983, Abdolmalek Rigi is from the Regi tribe...
, however, always denied the organization had any separatist agenda, or foreign links, claiming that they merely fight for equal rights for Sunni Muslims in predominantly Shi'a Iran.
In an interview with Rooz
Rooz
Rooz is a Persian and English news website. It is mostly staffed by exiled Iranian journalists including Masoud Behnoud, Ebrahim Nabavi and Nikahang Kowsar with occasional articles by activists and journalists inside Iran, including Shirin Ebadi and Ahmad Zeidabadi...
(an Iranian online newspaper), Rigi declared himself an Iranian and stating Iran was his home, and that he merely aimed at improving the lives of Sunni Baluchis in a democratic Iran. Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
's US cable channel HDnet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
's television news magazine Dan Rather Reports, also interviewed Rigi and showed a video of Rigi personally cutting off his brother in-law Shahab Mansouri's head. In the same interview, Rigi described himself as "an Iranian" and denied that his goal is to form a separate Baluch state. He claimed that his goal is to "improve conditions for ethnic Baluchis", and that his group is "fighting exclusively for the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran"
In an October 17, 2008 interview aired on Al-Arabiya TV, Abdolmalek stated, "the only thing we ask of the Iranian government is to be citizens. We want to have the same rights as the Iranian Shiite people. That's it." He described his group as an Islamic awakening movement but denied any ties with Al Qaeda or the Taliban. He also told the interviewer that despite the fact that "many of us have been martyred ... we are prepared to reach an understanding with the Iranian government, Insha Allah."
Capture of Rigi
On February 23, 2010 Iran captured Abdolmalek RigiAbdolmalek Rigi
Abdolmajid Rigi or Abdolmalek Rigi was the leader of Jundallah, an Islamist Sunni militant organization based in the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of southeast Iran, until his capture and execution in 2010 by the Iranian government.-Biography:Born in 1983, Abdolmalek Rigi is from the Regi tribe...
. On February 26 Rigi appeared on Iranian TV, claiming that the U.S. promised him financial and military aid to fight the Iranian government, which the U.S. denied. He was executed on June 20, 2010.
In the wake of Rigi's capture and execution, alarab claimed that Jundallah named Muhammad Dhahir Baluch
Muhammad Dhahir Baluch
Mohammad Dhahir Baluch is the current leader of Jundallah. He is also known as Abdul Rauf Rigi. Dhahir Baluch is the oldest brother of the former Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi.Dhahir Baluch has been leading Jundallah since February 2010...
as his replacement.
United States
A report by Brian RossBrian Ross (journalist)
Brian Elliot Ross is an American investigative correspondent for ABC News. He has been with ABC News since July 1994. From 1974 until 1994, Ross was a correspondent for NBC News.-Major scoops:...
and Christopher Isham
Christopher Isham
Christopher Isham is a theoretical physicist at Imperial College London. His main research interests are quantum gravity and foundational studies in quantum theory. He was the inventor of an approach to temporal quantum logic called the HPO formalism, and has worked on loop quantum gravity and...
of ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
in April 2007 alleged that Jundallah "has been secretly encouraged and advised by American officials" to destabilize the government in Iran, citing U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Pakistani tribal and intelligence sources. The report alleges that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
discussed the activity of the group against Iran during his visit to Pakistan. In a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, the network stated that the support was believed to have started in 2005 and been arranged so that the U.S. provided no direct funding to the group, which would require congressional
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
oversight and attract media attention, drawing parallels between American support for Jundallah and U.S. involvement in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
.
The report was denied by Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
official sources. But despite their denial ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
stood by their claim. Alexis Debat
Alexis Debat
Alexis Debat is a French commentator on terrorism and national security issues, based in Washington D.C., USA. He worked as a reporter, consultant, and source for ABC News for six years, as a senior fellow at the Nixon Center, and was a contributing editor to The National Interest...
, one of the sources quoted by Ross and Isham in their report alleging US support for the Jundullah, resigned from ABC News in June 2007, after ABC officials claimed that he faked several interviews while working for the company. Ross went on to say the Jundullah story had many sources, adding, "We’re only worried about the things Debat supplied, not about the substance of that story." According to Ross, ABC had found nothing that would undermine the stories Mr. Debat worked on. However, he acknowledged that as the stories of fabrications continue to roll in, the network "at some point has to question whether anything he said can be believed." This caused the network in 2007 to send a second team of producers to Pakistan investigating the original reports.
Fars News Agency
Fars News Agency
Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", news organizations such as CNN and Reuters describe it as a "semi-official" news agency with ties to the government...
, an Iranian state run news agency, reported that the United States government is involved in PRMI's terrorists acts.
Gholamali Haddadadel, Iranian parliament speaker in 2007, told reporters that Jundallah is part of pressure tactics used by United States to subdue Iran, and hoped with Pakistani help, Iran would be able to defeat Jundallah.
On April 2, 2007, Abdolmalek Rigi appeared on the Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
service of Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, the official broadcasting service of the United States government, which identified Rigi as "the leader of popular Iranian resistance movement" and used the title of "Doctor
Doctor (title)
Doctor, as a title, originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb docēre . It has been used as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread...
" with his name. This incidence resulted in public condemnation by the Iranian-American community in the U.S, many of whom are opponents of the Iranian government, as well as Jundallah.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
Seymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
revealed another report in July 2008 that US congressional leaders had secretly agreed to former president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's USD 400 million funding request, which gives the US a free hand in arming and funding terrorist groups such as Jundullah militants.
Three days after the 2009 terror attack against Zahidan mosque, Iranian speaker of parliament Ali Larijani
Ali Larijani
Ali Ardashir Larijani is an Iranian philosopher, politician and the chairman of the Iranian parliament. Larijani was the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from August 15, 2005 to October 20, 2007, appointed to the position by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,replacing Hassan Rowhani...
revealed, hat Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
had intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
reports regarding the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
links with certain terrorist groups operating against Iran and accused the United States of commanding them. He implicated the United States in trying to start a civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
between Shia and Sunni segments of Iranian society. Regarding the investigation of the terrorist act he added that Iran would want Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
to cooperate fully and not become a mere part of the designs against Iran.
According to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
Jundallah is just one part of a Black Operation
Black operation
A black operation or black op is a covert operation typically involving activities that are highly clandestine and often outside of standard military protocol or even against the law.-Origins:...
Plan involving psychological operations and other covert operations to support dissents among minorities (Baloch, Arab, Kurds, Azeris, etc.) in Iran, which along with tactics of military posturing, risky maneuvers and occasional conciliatory gestures are designed to improve United States bargaining position in any future negotiation with Iran. Furthermore these Black Operation
Black operation
A black operation or black op is a covert operation typically involving activities that are highly clandestine and often outside of standard military protocol or even against the law.-Origins:...
s build upon a coordinated campaign consisting of disinformation, placement of negative newspaper articles, propaganda broadcasts, the manipulation of Iran's monetary currency and international banking transactions.
Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi
Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi
Hojatoll-Islam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi is a politician in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2005, he was appointed as the new interior minister of the country by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...
, has said, United States intelligence operatives have been meeting and coordinating with Anti-Iranian militants in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
as well as encouraging drug smuggling into Iran.
A former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army
Pakistan Army
The Pakistan Army is the branch of the Pakistani Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The Pakistan Army came into existence after the Partition of India and the resulting independence of Pakistan in 1947. It is currently headed by General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The Pakistan...
General Aslam Beg has accused the Coalition Forces in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
of training and supporting Jundallah against Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
.
After Rigi was arrested on 23 February 2010 Iran's intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi at a press conference in Tehran claimed that Rigi had been at a US base in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
24 hours before his arrest. At a press conference he flourished a photograph which he said showed Rigi outside the base with two other men, though he gave no details of where the base was, or how or when the photograph was obtained. Photographs were also shown of an Afghan passport and identity card said to have been given by the Americans to Rigi. Moslehi also alleged that Rigi had met the then NATO secretary-general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a retired Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal . He served as the 11th Secretary General of NATO from January 5, 2004 until August 1, 2009....
, in Afghanistan in 2008, and had visited European countries. He said agents had tracked Rigi's movements for five months, calling his arrest "a great defeat for the US and UK".
On February 25 Iranian state television broadcast a statement by Rigi stating he had had American support and that
"The Americans said Iran was going its own way and they said our problem at the present is Iran… not al-Qaeda and not the Taliban, but the main problem is Iran. We don't have a military plan against Iran. Attacking Iran is very difficult for us (the US). They [Americans] promised to help us and they said that they would co-operate with us, free our prisoners and would give us [Jundullah] military equipment, bombs, machine guns, and they would give us a base.
BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
News carried a report on the statements, noting that "It is not possible to say whether Abdolmalek Rigi made the statement freely or under duress." The US has denied having links with Rigi's group, Jundullah. Reuters also reported that Geoff Morrell, Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
press secretary, dismissed claims by the Iranian government that Mr. Rigi had been at an American military base just before his arrest. Morrell called the accusations of American involvement “nothing more than Iranian propaganda.”
On November 3, 2010, the U.S. Department of State officially designated Jundallah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
U.S. State Department list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations
"Foreign Terrorist Organization" is a designation of non-United States-based organizations declared terrorist by the United States Secretary of State in accordance with section 219 of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act...
, thereby making it a crime for any person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide material support or resources to Jundallah.
Saudi Arabia
Iran considers Jundallah as a group connected to Taliban and their opiumOpium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
revenues, getting financial as well as ideologic support directly from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
in collusion with other hard-line elements within Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. Others point to the fact that United States has for long supported Low intensity conflict
Low intensity conflict
Low intensity conflict is the use of military forces applied selectively and with restraint to enforce compliance with the policies or objectives of the political body controlling the military force...
and assassinations with Saudi money, especially against nationalists, socialists and Shias.
Sweden
American journalist Dan RatherDan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
has traveled to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
investigating Jundallah and its funding sources. On the US cable channel HDnet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
's television news magazine Dan Rather Reports
Dan Rather Reports
Dan Rather Reports is a weekly news television show hosted by former CBS news anchor Dan Rather that airs on HDNet. After being broadcast, episodes are available on DVD and in the iTunes Store. Like all HDNet programming it is broadcast in high definition....
, he indicated that support comes from Balochis in Sweden where Radio Baloch FM is broadcast from Stockholm.
United Kingdom
Iranian authorities also blame the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for supporting Jundallah.
In a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production "Panorama: Obama and the Ayatollah", a terrorist organisation which has carried out acts of terror leading to death of civilians and children in Iran is briefly mentioned but not named, with the official prosecution files and their Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
warrants blacked out in video. The international warrants call for their arrest under international anti-terrorism laws, which has not happened and Tehran blames western governments particularly British government for protecting them from an international arrest.
Pakistan
Jundallah is also actively involved and conducts terrorist attacks having recently linked up with other banned religious groups. Pakistan has worked with Iran especially during the time of the Shah in fighting many of irredentist groups in Balochistan. Pakistan's assistance in the capture and arrest of Jundallah's leader. Despite denials, a few Iranian MP's have often even castigated Pakistan's efforts in tackling the Baloch based insurgency. Hossein Ali Shahriari, Zahedan's representative in parliament, rhetorically asked, "Why does our diplomatic apparatus not seriously confront the Pakistani government for harboring bandits and regime's enemies? Why do security, military and police officials not take more serious action?". It has been claimed, Jundallah can not operate with at least some degree of support from within Pakistan and that elements from within Pakistani security establishment, particularly ISIInter-Services Intelligence
The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence , is Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, responsible for providing critical national security intelligence assessment to the Government of Pakistan...
with financial support of Saudi Arabia and its supplementation through the largest opium black market in the world have woven a complicated web of drug smugglers and terrorists to project power in the region and beyond. General Hasan Firoozabadi of Iranian Army said, one of the main bases of Jundallah has been identified and pointed out to Pakistan and Iran is awaiting for Pakistan's action on the matter. In a rare criticism Iranian Intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
minister after the Saravan attack claimed Pakistan is not meaningfully cooperating with Iran on the issue of Jundallah.
At least some Iranian analysts believe this huge transnational web comprising economic, political and military dimensions is ultimately being run by CIA (Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
), aiming to topple or at least weaken Iranian government; with Pakistan just being a pawn much like the earlier United States support for Mujahedin against Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
with collaboration of Pakistan. These analysts believe the ideological element supporting Jundallah and similar groups come from religious madrassah's of Pakistan supported religiously and financially by the USA and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
.
2005 Attack on Iranian President
The motorcade of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was ambushed during his visit to Balochistan province, in which at least one of his bodyguards was killed and others injured.2006 Tasooki Attack
On 16 March 2006, four days before Iranian new year, Jundallah blocked a road near Tasooki and killed 21 civilians. A thirteen year old student on his way to new year holidays was caught in the crossfire.2007 Zahedan Bombing
On February 14, 2007, a car bomb and gunfire directed at a bus killed 18 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards CorpsIslamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution , often called Revolutionary Guards, is a branch of Iran's military, founded after the Iranian revolution...
. Guards commander Qasem Rezaei said, "This blind terrorist operation led to the martyrdom of 18 citizens of Zahedan" and attributed the attack to "insurgents and elements of insecurity." Jundallah claimed responsibility for the attack on 15 February.
Iranian security forces also arrested five suspects, two of whom were carrying camcorders and grenades when they were arrested, while the police killed the main "agent" of the attack. Among the arrestees was Said Qanbarzehi, a Balochi, who was hanged in Zahedan prison on 27 May 2007. He had been sentenced to death at the age of 17 along with six other Balochi men—Javad Naroui, Masoud Nosratzehi, Houshang Shahnavazi, Yahya Sohrabzehi, Ali Reza Brahoui and Abdalbek Kahrazehi (also known as Abdalmalek) -- in March 2007, despite the absolute international prohibition on the execution of child offenders. Two days later on Friday, Feb 16 2007, Jundallah bombed a girls school in city of Zahedan and the leader of the group took responsibility for it on the official TV of MEK
MEK
MEK or Mek may refer to:* In chemistry and industry methyl ethyl ketone, a solvent, used also to weld some plastics* The Iranian guerilla-cum-opposition group Mujahideen-e Khalq* Mek, a comic mini series by Warren Ellis...
.
Mass abduction
Jundallah militants kidnapped 21 Iranian truck drivers near Chah Bahar on August 19, 2007 and brought them to Pakistan. Pakistani forces later freed all of them.Police abduction
On June 13, 2008, 16 police officers in southeastern Iran were abducted and brought into Pakistan. In December 2008, it was revealed that Jundullah had killed all of the hostages.Saravan Bombing
In a rare suicide bombing in Iran, a car bomb was driven into a security building in Saravan, Iran, on December 29, 2008. The explosion killed four Iranians.Saravan Ambush
On January 25, 2009, 12 Iranian policemen were ambushed and killed by Jundallah near Saravan.Zahedan Mosque Blast
A bomb blast on May 28, 2009 rocked a mosque in the city of southeastern Iranian city of ZahedanZahedan
Zahedan is a city in and the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 552,706, in 109,488 families.-Geography:...
as mourners participated in a ceremony marking the death of the daughter of the prophet of Islam, which killed 25 people and injured 125 others, less than 3 weeks before the Iranian 2009 presidential elections. The Iranian government promptly accused the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
of having financed and orchestrated the attack in order to destabilize the nation in the lead up to its presidential election. Two days after the attack, three men were publicly hanged for smuggling the explosives used in attack into Iran from Pakistan. The trio were already in prison at the time of attack and had been tried for previous attacks by Jundallah including 2007 Zahedan bombings
2007 Zahedan bombings
The 2007 Zahedan bombings occurred from 14-17 February in Zahedan, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, Iran. While Jundallah claimed responsibility, the Iranian government has accused the governments of Pakistan and the United States of complicity. The first bombing occurred at 6:30 a.m...
. Interior Minister Sadegh Mahsouli
Sadegh Mahsouli
Sadegh Mahsouli is an Iranian politician who was Minister of Interior from 2008 to 2009 and Minister of Welfare and Social Security from 2009 to 2011. He was appointed to this post in 19 November 2009, as part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second cabinet after received vote of from Parliament...
said in a statement posted on the internet Friday that "those who committed the Thursday bombing are neither Shia nor Sunni. They are Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Israelis." Abdel Raouf Rigi, the spokesman for Jundallah claimed responsibility on a Saudi Arabian state owned TV channel, Al-Arabiya.
2009 Pishin Bombing
On October 18, 2009 42 people were killed in a suicide bombing in the Pishin region of Sistan-Baluchistan, including at least 6 officers in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards such as the deputy commander of the Guards' ground force, General Noor Ali Shooshtari, and the Guards' chief provincial commander, Rajab Ali. Jundallah claimed responsibility.2010 Zahedan Bombings
On July 16, 2010, 27 people were killed in a double suicide bombing at the Jamia mosque in Zahedan. The blasts, timed 20 minutes apart to maximize injuries, are believed to have killed several members of the Revolutionary Guard,.Jundallah has also been named as a possible source of a pair of motorcycle bomb attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists on November 28, 2010
2010 Chah Bahar Bombings
On December 14, 2010, two suicide bombers targeted a group of Shiite worshippers at a mourning ceremony a day before Ashoura near a mosque killing at least 39 people.See also
- CIA activities in IranCIA activities in Iran-1952:Britain, resentful of the nationalization of Iran's oil industry, came up with the idea for the coup in 1952 and pressed the U.S. to mount a joint operation to remove the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh and install the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi to rule...
- Special Activities DivisionSpecial Activities DivisionThe Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
- Sistan and Baluchistan ProvinceSistan and Baluchistan ProvinceSistan and Baluchestan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. It is in the southeast of the country, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan and its capital is Zahedan....
- Iran-Iraq WarIran-Iraq WarThe Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
- BalochBaloch peopleThe Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....
- Baluchi Autonomist MovementBaluchi Autonomist MovementThe Baluchi Autonomist Movement was an ethnic Baluchi guerrilla movement in Iranian Balochistan led by Mowlawi Abdul Aziz Mollazadeh in the 1980s. The movement was supported by the Iraqi government. The BAM's main demands were limited autonomy and economic concessions for Iranian Baluchis...
- Divide and ruleDivide and ruleIn politics and sociology, divide and rule is a combination of political, military and economic strategy of gaining and maintaining power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy...
- CIA sponsored regime change
- CIA drug traffickingCIA Drug TraffickingA few sources indicate the United States Central Intelligence Agency might have been involved in several drug trafficking operations...
- Opium production in AfghanistanOpium production in AfghanistanAfghanistan has been the greatest illicit opium producer in the entire world, ahead of Burma and the "Golden Triangle" since 1992, excluding the year 2001. Afghanistan is the main producer of opium in the "Golden Crescent". Opium production in Afghanistan has been on the rise since U.S....
- Allegations of CIA assistance to Osama bin LadenAllegations of CIA assistance to Osama bin LadenIn mid-1979, about the same time as the Soviet Union deployed troops into Afghanistan, the United States began giving several hundred million dollars a year in aid to the Afghan Mujahideen insurgents fighting the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the Soviet Army in Operation Cyclone...
- Persecution of Shia MuslimsPersecution of Shia MuslimsThe dispute over the right successor to Muhammad resulted in the formation of two main sects, the Sunni, and the Shia. The Sunni, or followers of the way, followed the caliphate and maintained the premise that any devout Muslim could potentially become the successor to the Prophet if accepted by...
- List of designated terrorist organizations
- Psychological Operations (United States)Psychological Operations (United States)Psychological operations are planned operations to convey selected information and indicators to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of foreign governments, organizations, groups, and individuals.The purpose of United States...
- Religious terrorismReligious terrorismReligious terrorism is terrorism by those whose motivations and aims have a predominant religious character or influence.In the modern age, after the decline of ideas such as the divine right of kings and with the rise of nationalism, terrorism more often involved anarchism, nihilism and...
- Irregular WarfareIrregular warfareIrregular warfare is warfare in which one or more combatants are irregular military rather than regular forces. Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare, and so is asymmetric warfare....
External links
- Seymour Hersh: The Secret War in Iran
- Foreign devils in the Iranian mountains
- Terrorist attacks in Iran and Iraq point to the involvement of the U.S. and Britain
- Drug Library on Afghan Opium
- Opium Trade Policy
- Western Support for Terrorism
- Information Clearing House Article: US Heavy Meddle in Iran
- Wikileak released confidential CIA red cell document entitled: US export of terror