Addressing a group of Iranian border guard commanders here in Tehran on Sunday, Ahmadi Moqaddam said that Iranian border guard units have earned great growth in the last 8 years and now enjoy "all the necessary technologies for border control".
"During the said period the human resources in the border guard command grew 3 to 4 times larger and by the end of the fifth development plan (2010-2015) 5 to 6 thousand more forces will join the border guard units," he added.
Elsewhere, Ahmadi Moqaddam lauded the security conditions in Iran, and stated, "Right now, there is no difference between Tehran and (Iran's Southeastern province) of Sistan and Balouchestan in terms of security… and thus, it can be said that Iran enjoys an integrated public security."
In January, Ahmadi Moqaddam had said that he Iranian Law Enforcement Police force plans to deploy units of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) along the country's Southeastern borders as part of its broader plan to intensify border control.
Speaking to FNA in Zahedan, the capital city of the Southeastern province of Sistan and Balouchestan, Iran's Police Chief Brigadier General Esmayeel Ahmadi Moqaddam said his force has taken measures to strengthen border guards units.
"We have taken good measures to reinvigorate our units and set up turrets along border areas and drone units will also be activated for aerial surveillance to the same end," Ahmadi Moqaddam stated.
He added that police have procured the necessary gears for controlling the country's water borders as well.
Iran shares open borders on the West with Iraq and Turkey, on the East with Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the South with the Persian Gulf littoral states and the Sea of Oman, on the North with Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea, and on the North East with Turkmenistan.
Eastern Iran borders Afghanistan, which is the world's number one opium and drug producer. Iran's geographical position has made the country a favorite transit corridor for drug traffickers who intend to smuggle their cargoes from Afghanistan to drug dealers in Europe.
Speaking to FNA in October, Lieutenant Commander of Iran's Border Guard Forces General Ahmad Gravand said that Iran now has "all-out control" over the country's borders, specially in the East.
"(Controlling) the Iran-Afghanistan borders is a top priority of the Iranian police's border guards unit," he stated, adding that police is digging canals and using optical electronic systems to monitor the bordering areas and prevent drug convoys from crossing the country's borderline.
