French sources said that Saudi Arabia ordered the “Army of Right” recent attack and that this new group is the fruit of the Saudi violent approach adopted in facing Iran.

Nidal Hamadeh

A new mysterious group calling itself the “Jaishul Haq” (Army of Right) launched an attack in the Iranian province of Sistan after a truce that lasted more than three years following the arrest of “Abdul Malik Rigi” by the Iranian authorities. Rigi is the leader of the Jundollah “the Soldiers of God” group, which has worked militarily against Iran from Pakistan before being exterminated by Iran in 2010. The attack resulted in the death of 16 Iranian soldiers, and the attacking group set off from the “Baluchistan” province in Pakistan through the “Khojak” tunnel passing through Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, Pakistan.

French sources, well-informed about the file of the insurgent Salafi groups that are supported by Saudi Arabia, said in an interview with Al-Manar that Saudi Arabia ordered the attack, and that this new group is but only the fruits of the Saudi violent approach adopted in facing Iran and the regional axis allying with it in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.

The said sources accuse also the Pakistani intelligence, in conjunction with the Saudi intelligence, of creating and activating this group. The sources say that the Saudi intelligence has spent recently huge amounts of money to fund the Jaish al-Adl group, but the weak human Saudi possibilities that do not allow the Saudi intelligence to take direct care logistically and militarily of this group forced the Saudis to employ the Pakistani intelligence to take care of the group that is controlling Jaish al-Adl and running it. The French sources confirm that the Pakistani intelligence was the first to up bring and create this group, as it created, trained, and guided the Jundollah organization in the past, but it abandoned it when its interest with Iran required so.

Pakistan, which receives funding from Saudi Arabia, entered into strategic alliance with Riyadh, and thus the leadership of the Pakistani army, which controls the Pakistani intelligence work, cannot reject the Saudi dictation in this regard. The Pakistani army has linked its policy in the region directly to the policy of Saudi Arabia since decades.

Yet, Pakistan is dissatisfied with the Iranian-American convergence and the Russian-American understanding in more than one hot area in the world, especially after the rise of Russia, which is considered by the Pakistani military institution as an important ally of Iran. The Pakistani military institution is concerned over this triple convergence that might affect its influence in Afghanistan and its rank in America, especially that Iran has good relationship with India, the enemy of Pakistan, and the third largest importer of the Iranian oil. The Pakistani military institution is concerned over the return of the Russian influence to the Central Asian region and over the fact that this return might evoke the Pakistani role in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union, as well as the role of the Pakistani intelligence in financing and arming the Salafist groups fighting in Islamic countries, which were part of the former Soviet Union. This all comes in addition to the Pakistani-Saudi intelligence role in assassinating “Ahmad Shah Massoud”, an ally of Russia and Iran in Afghanistan, and in supporting the Taliban enemy of Moscow. These concerns that meet with the Saudi concerns made Islamabad under the control of the Saudi intelligence in this file, and this means that Pakistan and Iran might have tense relationship in the future if the attacks were repeated by the so-called Jaish al-Adl group against the Iranian territory. In fact, Riyadh is aware of this and perhaps this is part of its plan to fight Iran and to disrupt the international consensus reached with Washington on Syria and the Iranian nuclear file.

Pakistan’s concerns increase the time it notices that the Chinese-Russian coalition is in full swing in Central Asia through the “Shanghai” organization. Pakistan considers China as a strategic ally in the region because of the Indian-Pakistani hostility that is appropriate for China in its historical present and future competition with India. Moreover, the harmony between China and Iran in all issues relating to Central Asia and Syria, as well as the great Chinese reliance on the Iranian oil and gas, increase Islamabad’s concerns. Hence, this makes its position be in line with that of Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that it does not publicize it as is the case with Saudi Arabia.

Translated by: Mayssa Hazimeh