Iran Bolsters Border Security to Prevent ‘Infiltration’
Iran has sent additional units of special forces to fortify its northern border with Iraq. (AFP file photo)
Iran has sent additional units of special forces to fortify its northern border with Iraq and clamp down on what it says is infiltration by Kurdish opposition groups, Iranian state media reported on Friday.
Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, chief of ground forces of the paramilitary Iranian Revolutionary Guard, said “armored and special forces” units had been deployed to west and north-west provinces to bolster existing border security, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The deployment aims to prevent infiltration and the smuggling of weapons in the north by Kurdish opposition groups exiled in Iraq that Tehran claims is orchestrating country-wide anti-government protests. It is a claim the Kurdish groups deny and to date Iran has not provided any evidence to support it.
Iran has several military bases near the Iraqi border and forces have been present there on a rotating basis for decades.
The troop movement also comes after Iraq issued directives for boosting security along its side of the border to prevent further bombardment by Iran, according to a statement issued by Iraq's military spokesman Maj. Gen. Yahya Rasool. Kurdish opposition groups have bases in Iraq's Kurdish-run northern region.
Earlier this week, Iranian officials were quoted in state-run media as saying they did not have plans to conduct a ground military operation to root out opposition groups from the bases.
Country-wide protests engulfed Iran in September following the death of a young woman in police custody for violating the republic's strict dress code for women. The protests have become one the greatest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the chaotic years after its 1979 revolution.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died Sept. 16, three days after her arrest by Iran’s morality police. Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated in police custody, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating after she was detained.
A general view shows the new cross-border bridge linking China and North Korea in Dandong, Liaoning Province, on October 15, 2026. (Photo by Michael ZHANG / AFP)
New Four-lane Bridge Opens Between China, North Korea
A general view shows the new cross-border bridge linking China and North Korea in Dandong, Liaoning Province, on October 15, 2026. (Photo by Michael ZHANG / AFP)
A new four-lane road bridge linking China and North Korea finally opened on Thursday, 12 years late, enabling the Asian giant and its isolated nuclear-armed neighbor to step up cross-border trade substantially.
China is its neighbor's largest trading partner and a vital diplomatic and political backer, although relations have not always been smooth with the ruling Kim dynasty.
Hundreds of people gathered on Thursday in the northern Chinese border town of Dandong, taking selfies in front of the 3,026-meter (9,927-feet) New Yalu River vehicle bridge before it opened.
Trucks bearing the nations' flags began moving in both directions late morning, AFP reporters at the scene said, some of the North Korean vehicles decorated with flowers.
"It's great," one woman who came to watch told AFP in the town dotted with Chinese as well as Korean shops and restaurants, where residents were relieved the bridge had finally open.
"It's already been over 10 years. It's certainly going to be good for business," she said, without wishing to be named, accompanied by her friend and her dog.
"I hope the standard of living in North Korea can rise to the level we have here," Dandong local Yu Shuyan, who before the pandemic had visited North Korea, told AFP.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that the bridge symbolized Beijing's friendship with Pyongyang and that relations were "entering a new stage and opening a new chapter".
"Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, the successful opening of the bridge will not only strongly boost economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, but will also further facilitate people-to-people exchanges and tighten the bonds of affection between the two peoples," Li said by video link at the opening ceremony, Xinhua reported.
A truck bearing a North Korean flag crosses the new cross-border bridge linking China and North Korea in Dandong, Liaoning Province, on October 15, 2026. (Photo by Michael ZHANG / AFP)
The structure was completed in 2014 but its opening was delayed due to a lack of connecting roads and customs facilities on the North Korean side, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
North Korea also sealed its borders during the Covid-19 pandemic, and train journeys between the East Asian neighbors only restarted in March after a six-year halt.
The new bridge is not the only border crossing between the two countries. But the new structure will supersede the "extremely narrow" rail-and-road Sino-Korean Friendship Bridge downstream on the Yalu River, said Lim Eul-chul, a North Korea expert at Kyungnam University.
"Previously, transporting heavy cargo such as industrial machinery, raw materials, construction materials and energy-related supplies required extreme caution because of safety concerns surrounding the ageing bridge," Lim told AFP.
"The new crossing will make such shipments much easier and more efficient," he said, calling it a "groundbreaking development" that will triple or quadruple cargo traffic.
The opening came a day after North Korea test-fired two types of cruise missile from a submarine, according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The two Koreas have engaged in a tit-for-tat series of missile tests this month, with both sides test-firing hypersonic weapons.
Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war as the Korean conflict ended in 1953 with a truce rather than a peace treaty.
South Korea's unification ministry told AFP that Seoul is "closely monitoring" the situation regarding the new bridge.
North Korea has not yet resumed issuing tourism visas to Chinese citizens, who once made up the bulk of its overseas visitors.
The opening of the new bridge comes just more than a month after North Korea and Russia opened their first road bridge, with Pyongyang lauding it as a sign of closer ties.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Pyongyang has become a key Kremlin ally, sending troops to support Moscow's war effort in return for economic benefits and military technology.
CENTCOM Tests Advanced Drone Capabilities in the Middle Easthttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5329797-centcom-tests-advanced-drone-capabilities-middle-east
CENTCOM Tests Advanced Drone Capabilities in the Middle East
The aircraft carrier USS George Washington sails in Middle Eastern regional waters. (CENTCOM)
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Wednesday that Task Force 99, part of US Air Forces Central, introduced new drone and communication capabilities to warfighters in the Middle East.
“As a forward-deployed laboratory, the task force tests innovative concepts for enhancing combat effectiveness in the field,” the Command wrote in a post on X.
Late on Tuesday, CENTCOM had dismissed claims by Ali Azmayi, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, that Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz.
“[The] IRGC’s navy commander has no navy. American forces and regional partners clearly control the Strait of Hormuz,” the Command said, adding that US forces helped shipping partners move 19 million barrels of crude oil through the waterway.
Development of ‘Ballistic’
In Tehran, Iran’s defense minister nominee, Mehrdad Akhlaghi Ketabchi, outlined his plan for the ministry, prioritizing the upgrade of missile systems, expanding air defense production, and improving warhead effectiveness to meet current and future needs.
During a parliamentary session reviewing his plans for becoming defense minister, Akhlaghi Ketabchi said his priorities include “significantly and unexpectedly increasing the salaries of armed forces personnel.”
He also said: “We will work to accelerate the acquisition of technology for manufacturing heavy, multirole fighter jets, a project the ministry launched previously.”
Referring to ground combat, the nominee for the Defense post said that if he secures the confidence of deputies, his plan includes “developing the technology for designing and manufacturing artillery systems, missiles, and guided and smart mortar shells; modernizing production lines for advanced small arms; and developing and upgrading various anti-armor systems.”
Akhlaghi Ketabchi has been heavily involved in Iran's missiles programs and has previously served as head of the Aerospace Industries Organization, among other positions.
In 2007, he was designated by the UN Security Council in connection with his role as the head of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group (SBIG)—an entity subordinate to Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), involved in the development and production of Iran's solid-propellant ballistic missiles.
His nomination depicts the pivotal role played by the Aerospace Industries Organization within Iran’s Defense Ministry.
US Military Weighs Use of ‘Mother of All Bombs’ in Potential Future Strikes on Iranhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5329785-us-military-weighs-use-%E2%80%98mother-all-bombs%E2%80%99-potential-future-strikes-iran
US Military Weighs Use of ‘Mother of All Bombs’ in Potential Future Strikes on Iran
Iranians drive past an anti-US billboard in Vanak Square, Tehran, on October 14, 2026 (EPA).
The US military has developed strike plans that could include using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, also known as the "mother of all bombs", against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites if President Donald Trump orders renewed combat operations, CNN reported on Thursday citing US officials familiar with the matter.
The potential deployment of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal would mark a significant escalation in the conflict, although officials familiar with military planning discussions told CNN questions remain over its effectiveness in achieving Washington's strategic objectives.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
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