Iranian peacekeepers ready to go on UN missions: Cmdr.

Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces Brigadier General Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan

Brigadier General Pourdastan said Tuesday that Iran is prepared to send Iranian peacekeepers on missions led by the United Nations upon the world body’s request.

The Iranian Army's Ground Forces has prepared its peacekeepers in terms of equipment, necessary trainings and knowledge to carry out their duties effectively, IRNA reported.

A number of Iranian peacekeeping forces have already been sent as apprentices on UN peacekeeping field missions to acquire general knowledge and the skills necessary to take on the job, Brigadier General Pourdastan stated.

“Their deployment to the assigned region will certainly assist Iran in its future deployment of peacekeeping forces,” he added.

According to a report by the Fars news agency on April 21, a group of Iranian overseeing officers have been deployed in the Darfur region of Sudan within a framework of the United Nations mission in the African country.

Iran dispatched the forces to the Horn of Africa in 2003 amid heated border disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea in order to help the two countries determine common borders, the report pointed out.

It added that the officers from Iran have also been deployed on various occasions in North Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Darfur region, and are currently helping the UN mission in Darfur.

The Iranian Army’s peacekeeping unit was established in 1992 in order to take part in international humanitarian missions, according to the report.

MP/GHN/HJL