Iran plans to wall up all land borders, military cleric says

Tehran seeks to erect walls all around Iran, a senior armed forces official said, as part of a sweeping effort to tighten the country’s border security.

“For a long time, the Supreme Leader and all officials have sought to seal the country’s borders, while maintaining designated crossings for legal trade and travel,” the head of Iran’s military judiciary Ahmadreza Pourkhaghan said on Wednesday.

“Since early 2024, serious efforts have been made to implement this plan and sealing the borders has been placed on the agenda of the armed forces,” he added, not elaborating on details of the plan or its timeline.

Iran shares more than 5800 km (3600 miles) of land border with seven countries: Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east, Iraq and Turkey to the west, and Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to the north—which makes border security a complex and resource-intensive challenge.

The eastern border has long been Tehran’s main concern due to smuggling and flashpoints for cross-border militant activity from Pakistan in particular.

“In the eastern borders, around 150 kilometers of these walls have already been built,” Pourkhaghan asserted following a visit to Iran’s border areas. “We hope that within the next two years, the eastern borders will be fully sealed, followed by the western borders.

It remains unclear how the project will be funded or whether Iran will face pushback from its neighbors. Officials have not provided a timeline for when a potential construction on the mountainous western borders will begin.

Illicit cross-border trade is a significant source of income for many residents in Iran’s border provinces of Kurdistan in the West and Sistan-Baluchestan in the Southeast.

Residents will still have access to designated customs points and trade hubs, Pourkhaghan told reporters, but any large-scale border fortifications is likely to raise economic concerns in the deprived, restive communities.