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'Jaish-ul-Adl' Publishes Images of Abducted Iranian Soldiers

Jaish-ul-Adl carried out a spate of attacks on Iranian security forces in recent years. (File Photo: AFP)
Jaish-ul-Adl carried out a spate of attacks on Iranian security forces in recent years. (File Photo: AFP)
    Tehran, Dubai – Asharq al-Awsat
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'Jaish-ul-Adl' Publishes Images of Abducted Iranian Soldiers

Jaish-ul-Adl carried out a spate of attacks on Iranian security forces in recent years. (File Photo: AFP)
Jaish-ul-Adl carried out a spate of attacks on Iranian security forces in recent years. (File Photo: AFP)

A militant group claimed responsibility for the abduction of 12 Iranian security personnel and soldiers southeast the border with Pakistan, Iran’s semi-official news agency ISNA reported Monday.

"The terrorist group Jaish-ul-Adl has posted two photos... claiming that those in it are the forces abducted" on October 16, AFP reported. The photo shows seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and 15 security personnel in their military garb.

Jaish-ul-Adl, formed in 2012, is a successor to the extremist group Jundallah which led the bloody rebellion between 2005 and 2010.

Poor Sistan-Baluchestan province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, where a majority of Sunnis are ethnic Baluchis, has been battling clashes between regime forces and Baloch separatists or militant groups, according to AFP. The Sunni Baloch minority accounts for about 2 percent of Iran's population.

The photos also show a haul of automatic weapons and sniper rifles, rocket launchers, machine-guns, grenades and ammunition, apparently seized from the Iranian forces.

IRGC Ground Force Commander, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour, left for Pakistan on Monday to pursue the case of the kidnapped Iranians, according to an IRGC statement.

Meanwhile, Iranian Oil Ministry quoted Minister Bijan Zanganeh as saying that Iranian oil output cannot be replaced by other oil-producing countries if Tehran is hit by US sanctions in November, Reuters published in a report from Dubai.

“As I have repeatedly said there is no replacement for Iranian oil in the market,” said Zanganeh.

In May, US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international nuclear deal with Iran and announced sanctions against OPEC’s third-largest producer. Washington is pushing allies to cut imports of Iranian oil to zero and will reimpose sanctions on Iranian oil and financial sectors in November.

In June, OPEC agreed to boost supply to make up for the expected disruption to Iranian exports. But Iran has repeatedly said that its oil exports cannot be reduced to zero because of high demand levels in the market.

“The market’s knowledge of this inability has raised the prices as the average price (of crude) ... Rising oil prices have slowed down the economic growth of most of the consumer countries, which is affecting the global economy,” Oil Minister noted.

Zanganeh advised Trump “to forgo imposition of sanctions on Iran’s oil exports”, saying that the non-OPEC producers of oil were also unable “to offset disruptions in the market”.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview with Reuters on Sunday, dismissed concerns that oil prices could rise, saying the market had already factored in the losses.

Iran warned that if it cannot sell its oil due to US pressure, then no other regional country will be allowed to do so either, threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, as referred by Reuters.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, most international sanctions against Tehran were lifted in 2016 in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear program.

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World

Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Monday summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK to object to what it described as support by those countries for the protests that have shaken the country, its foreign ministry said.

The diplomats were shown a video of the damage caused by "rioters" and told their governments should "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters", the ministry said in a statement quoted by state television.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry confirmed that "European ambassadors" had been summoned by Iran.

World

Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's bazaar merchants, the trader class who were the financial backbone of the 1979 revolution, have turned against the clerics they helped bring to power, fueling unrest over an economy that has morphed into full-blown anti-government protests.

Frustration among bazaar merchants, from small-scale shopkeepers to large wholesale traders, has grown as their political and economic clout in Iran has diminished over the decades while the elite Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the economy, building sprawling and tightly held networks of power.

"We are struggling. We cannot import goods because of US sanctions and because only the Guards or those linked to them control the economy. They only think about their own benefits," said a trader at Tehran’s centuries-old Grand Bazaar, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The wave of protests that has engulfed the country, posing one of the toughest challenges ever to the clerical leadership, erupted in late December in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where hundreds of shopkeepers denounced the sharp fall in the rial currency.

The demonstrations quickly swelled and turned political, challenging the Islamic Republic's legitimacy. Protesters burned images of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and chanted "Death ‌to the dictator" - ‌undeterred by security forces armed with tear gas, batons, and, in many cases, live ammunition.

Iran’s ‌rulers, ⁠while acknowledging economic difficulties, have ‌blamed their longtime foes the US and Israel for fomenting the unrest. They appear intent on holding onto power at any cost, backed by a security apparatus refined over decades of suppressing ethnic revolts, student movements, and protests over economic hardship and social freedoms.

A combination of international sanctions and the Guards' sprawling economic empire has limited the government's ability to ease the dire economic situation.

Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said the government has lost control over the situation.

"What is striking is that the unrest began in the bazaar. For merchants, the core issue isn’t inflation - it’s price volatility, which leaves them unable to decide whether to buy or sell," he said.

Economic disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, along with economic mismanagement and state corruption - ⁠reported even by state media - have fanned discontent at a time when inflation is pushing the price of many goods beyond the means of most people.

Iran's rial currency has lost nearly ‌half its value against the dollar in 2025, with official inflation reaching 42.5% in December.

CONTROL ‍OF SECTORS FROM OIL TO CONSTRUCTION

Created by the republic's ‍late founder Khomeini, the Guards first secured an economic foothold after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when clerical rulers allowed them ‍to invest in leading Iranian industries.

Their influence expanded exponentially over decades, benefiting from Khamenei's full backing and from opportunities created by Western sanctions, which effectively excluded Iran from the global financial and trading system.

The Guards now control vast sectors of the economy, from oil to transportation, communications, and construction.

Another trader said the crisis was not over, as the Guards have long proved adept at defending their economic interests.

"The government wants to resolve the problem, but it lacks the means and power in this system. The economy is not controlled by the government," said the trader, a 62-year-old carpet seller in Tehran.

All aspects of the country's sanctions-hit oil business have come under the growing influence of the ⁠Guards - from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretly ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and front companies selling the oil, mostly to China.

"No one knows how much of the oil money that the Guards get from selling Iran’s oil returns to the country ... they are too powerful to be questioned about it,” said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.

During his 2013–2021 presidency, pragmatist Hassan Rouhani repeatedly clashed with the Guards, accusing them publicly of resisting budget cuts, while his attempts to curb their commercial networks and assets were largely frustrated.

THE ESTABLISHMENT RELIES ON THE GUARDS TO END UNREST

Even as it has relinquished economic power, the clerical establishment has relied on its loyal forces - the Guards and its affiliated Basij paramilitary - to violently crush ethnic uprisings, student unrest, and protests over economic hardship, preserving the political order.

"Given the sensitive circumstances when the country faces foreign threats, Khamenei cannot upset the Guards by curbing their economic influence. The establishment needs them to quell the protests and confront foreign threats," said an insider, close to Rouhani.

US-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 544 people - 496 protesters and 48 security personnel - with 10,681 people arrested since ‌the protests began on December 28 and spread around the country. Reuters was unable to independently verify the tallies.

The authorities have not given numbers of casualties, but officials say many members of the security forces have been killed by "terrorists and rioters" linked to foreign foes, including the US States and Israel.

World

Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
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Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Greenland's government said on Monday it will increase efforts to ensure the defense of the Arctic territory takes place under the auspices of NATO and again rejected US President Donald Trump's ambition to take over the island.

Trump has said the United States must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia ‌or China occupying the ‌strategically located and minerals-rich territory ‌in ⁠the future.

"All ‌NATO member states, including the United States, have a common interest in the defense of Greenland," the island's coalition government said in a statement, adding that it can in no way accept a US takeover of Greenland.

"As part of ⁠the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and ‌the defense of Greenland ‍must therefore be through NATO," ‍the government said.

The European Union Commissioner ‍for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said earlier on Monday that any US military takeover of Greenland would be the end of NATO.

Trump first floated the idea of a US takeover of Greenland in 2019 during his first term ⁠in office, although he faces opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.

While Denmark has ruled Greenland for centuries, the territory has gradually been moving towards independence since 1979, a goal shared by all political parties elected to the island's parliament.

"We are a democratic society that makes our own decisions. And our actions are based on international law," Greenland's Prime Minister ‌Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on LinkedIn.