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[...]
Sputnik's Fault Lines program spoke with Professor Mohammad Marandi of the University of Tehran to place the events in context and determine whether they represent a harbinger of antagonistic relations with Islamabad. Hosts Jamarl Thomas and Melik Abdul also examined the role of Israel in regional affairs amidst its assault on Gaza and examined whether China could play a part in mediating between Pakistan and Iran.

'An Imminent Threat'

Marandi drew attention to Jaish al-Adl, an armed group of Sunni Islamist separatists that operates along and across Iran's border with Pakistan in the southeastern region of the country. Jaish al-Adl claims to represent the interests of the minority Balochi ethnic group and opposes the Iranian government. They have taken credit for a number of attacks against Iranian political and military officials.

"They carried out a series of attacks in Iran including, a few weeks ago, an attack which killed 11 border guards," Marandi noted. "They were about to strike Iran again. They gathered in two bases and they were about to move towards the border."

"The Iranians saw that this was an imminent threat, and they had a small window of opportunity," claimed the professor of English literature and Orientalism. "They calculated that if they wait, it'll be another tragedy. they felt they had to strike, even though they knew that the Pakistani government would be very unhappy, understandably."

Marandi claimed that Tehran didn't make the decision lightly but was forced to act amidst a difficult situation on the Pakistani border where people on both sides often cross freely. He claimed the problem is compounded by poverty in Pakistan with many people crossing into Iran as "economic refugees."

"Because of the economic situation in Pakistan, first of all, Pakistan's army is mostly focused on India," the expert said. "So they don't have many resources on this side of the country... it's very difficult when the Pakistanis are not controlling their side of the border."

He claimed the incident, while regrettable, wasn't a sign of hostility towards Pakistan's government, saying, "the relationship between Iran and Pakistan is quite good. This is an incident that will not undermine the relationship." Marandi also noted upcoming elections in Iran, stressing that the Ebrahim Raisi administration had a political incentive to avoid appearing weak.

The professor noted Tehran had also carried out attacks on alleged terrorists recently in Syria and Iraq, claiming a common thread of Israeli and Western support for various anti-Iran groups.

[...]

"The Israelis, since they've been losing the ground war in Gaza and things have been going very poorly for them among the... international community, they've been globalizing their resources against Iran to put pressure on Iran," said Marandi. "We've seen a series of air attacks, both in Kerman, as I mentioned, but also others."

"All these different groups are right now being mobilized by the Israelis," Marandi alleged. "We have to remember that the Israelis have a long lasting relationship with ISIS* because ISIS during the Syrian Dirty War had bases alongside the Golan Heights."

[...]

Support for Islamist radicals in the region has long been a tactic of the United States as well, with the country's backing of the Mujahideen against Soviet forces in Afghanistan providing perhaps the most famous example. The flourishing of religious extremism in the country would empower terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda**, who organized the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.

Marandi made similar accusations regarding Jaish al-Adl, claiming they are "affiliated to Western intelligence agencies.

"The professor denounced the US' role in the region, and in particular their strong support for Israel which has seen the Biden administration consistently obstruct efforts to hold Israel to account at the United Nations.

[...]

Host Melik Abdul asked about the possibility for China to play a helpful role in Iran-Pakistan relations, noting their recent statement urging both countries to exercise restraint.

"China can play a constructive role," said Marandi. "If, for example, China can help Pakistan build up infrastructure and border security, that would go a long way in stopping these sort of attacks."

"Pakistan, as we speak, doesn't have those resources," the expert added. "[On the] Iranian side, they're going to reinforce the border further after this, and Pakistan doesn't have those resources. So if China did come in and assist Pakistan in creating border security infrastructure that would be very helpful."

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I just got back from Ukraine, where I was visiting some friends.

Everything we have heard about what's happening in Ukraine is a lie.

The reality is darker, bleaker, and unequivocally hopeless. There is no such thing as Ukraine "winning" this war.

- By their estimates, they have lost over one million of their sons, fathers and husbands; an entire generation is gone.

Analysts have estimated well over 500,000.

- Even in the Southwest, where the anti-Russian sentiment is long-standing, citizens are reluctant or straight-up scared to publicly criticize Zelensky; they will go to jail.

- In every village and town, the streets, shops, and restaurants are mostly absent of men.

- The few men who remain are terrified of leaving their homes for fear of being kidnapped into conscription. Some have resorted to begging friends to break their legs to avoid service.

- Army search parties take place early in the morning, when men leave their homes to go to work. They ambush and kidnap them off the streets and within 3-4 hours they get listed in the army and taken away straight to the front lines with minimal or no training at all; it is "a death sentence."

- It's getting worse every day. Where I was staying, a dentist had just been taken by security forces on his way to work, leaving behind two small children. Every day, 3-5 dead bodies keep arriving from the front lines.

- Mothers and wives fight tooth and nail with the armed forces, beg and plead not to have their men taken away. They try bribing, which sometimes works, but most of the time they are met with physical violence and death threats.

- The territory celebrated as having been "won back" from Russia has been reduced to rubble and is uninhabitable. Regardless, there is no one left to live there and displaced families will likely never return.

- They see the way the war has been reported, at home and abroad. It's a "joke" and "propaganda." They say: "Look around: is this winning?".

- Worse, some have been hoaxed into believing that once Ukrainians forces are exhausted, American soldiers will come in to replace them and "win the war".

There are indeed foreign mercenaries and officials working, and dying, in Ukraine, and NATO is preparing for its 'largest exercise since the cold war' near Russia's borders, but it seems unlikely, at the moment at least, that America, and its vassals, would be capable of such a feat.

There is no ambiguity in these people. The war was for nothing - a travesty. The outcome always was, and is, clear. The people are hopeless, utterly destroyed, and living in an unending nightmare.

They are pleading for an end, any end - most likely the same "peace" that could have been achieved two years ago. In their minds, they have already lost, for their sons, fathers and husbands are gone, and their country has been destroyed. There is no "victory" that can change that.

Make no mistake, they are angry with Putin. But they are also angry with Zelensky and the West. They have lost everything, worst of all, hope and faith, and cannot comprehend why Zelenky wishes to continue the current trajectory, the one of human devastation.

I didn't witness the war; but what I saw was absolutely heart-breaking.

Shame on the people, regardless of their intentions, who have supported this war. And shame on the media for continuing to lie about it.

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At least nine dead as Pakistan uses 'killer drones and rockets' in retaliatory airstrikes on Iranian territory
Thursday 18 January 2024 15:11, UK

At least nine people have been killed after Pakistan said it used "killer" drones and rockets in a retaliatory strike on Iranian territory early this morning.

Iranian media said several missiles hit a village in the Sistan Baluchistan province bordering Pakistan, with four children among the dead.

"A number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation," Pakistan's foreign ministry said.

It described the airstrikes as a "series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts".

"The sole objective of today's act was in pursuit of Pakistan's own security and national interest, which is paramount and cannot be compromised," the ministry added.

In a statement, the country's military said: "The precision strikes were carried out using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions and stand-off weapons."

It said the targets were used by the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and the Baloch Liberation Army.

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar, will cut short a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos following the strikes, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

Iran has condemned the airstrikes, saying those killed were civilians, and has summoned Pakistan's charge d'affaires to explain the action.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi told state TV that "four children, three women and two men, who were foreign nationals, have been killed".
...

But while the seeming tit-for-tat exchange has stoked local tensions and spread fears of a wider regional conflict breaking out from Israel's war in Gaza, both sides have targeted the same group of insurgents, located on either side of their mutual border.

On Tuesday, Iran targeted Jaish al Adl, or the Army of Justice, an outlawed Sunni Muslim separatist group, which is anti-Iranian and seeks independence for Iran's eastern Sistan and Pakistan's southwestern Baluchistan provinces, making it a common target for both governments.

There has been a low-level insurgency by nationalists for more than two decades, and like other Baluchi separatist active groups in the area, Jaish al Adl has a common goal of an independent Baluchistan for ethnic Baluch areas in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

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