'Iran fully ready to counter IS on its borders'

Iranian forces will repel the Islamic State (IS) radical group effectively if it launches any attack on the country, a senior military official said Saturday.

"We will not allow the IS terrorist group to approach the country's borders. We are fully prepared to counter them," Press TV quoted the commander of the Iranian Army's ground forces Brig. Gen. Ahmadreza Pourdastan as saying.

Pourdastan said that Iran has beefed up security along the western border regions to counter any militant threat.

"If the IS terrorist group intends to come near the country's borders, we will target them deep inside Iraqi territory," the commander said.

He emphasised that the Iranian Army's ground forces have high operational capability and would "nip the threat in the bud".

Earlier this month, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the remarks by US officials regarding the formation of a so-called international coalition to fight IS militants were "absurd, hollow and biased".

The US was seeking to expand its military presence in the Middle East region by declaring war on the IS terrorists, Khamenei said.

The security situation in Iraq began to deteriorate drastically after June 10, when bloody clashes broke out between Iraqi security forces and hundreds of IS militants.

The militants have taken control of the country's northern city of Mosul and seized swathes of territory after the Iraqi security forces abandoned their posts in Nineveh and other Sunni-predominant provinces.

The extremist group has committed heinous crimes and threatened all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, Christians and Yazidis, during its advances.