Iran says it is ready to conduct joint counterterrorism operations with eastern neighbors Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told reporters in Tehran on April 13 that Iran was willing to "carry out joint operations against terrorists with Pakistan and Afghanistan inside their territory."

Fazli said that although Tehran did not face any "critical security problems," the "occasional acts of sabotage" in Iran had taken place due to the "lack of control" in the neighboring countries.

In the past few months, armed groups have carried out several attacks against Iranian security forces along the volatile border with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

On April 7, the Jaish al-Adl militant group killed eight border guards near the border with Pakistan in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.

Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias have helped Iraqi forces fight Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, and Iran is one of several countries that have expressed concern about a growing IS presence in Afghanistan.

By Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty