ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Clashes erupted on Friday in the northern part of Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province, a rights monitor reported, pointing to casualties among “security personnel.” The fighting comes days after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed to retaliate for the killing of an affiliated cleric in the predominantly Baluch and Sunni Muslim southeastern province.
“Heavy automatic gunfire broke out” in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan, on Friday, “with clashes reported in the Daneshgah street area and the vicinity of Daneshjou street” in the city's south and southwest, independent human rights organization Haalvsh reported. Individuals in a passenger vehicle were also "targeted," the monitor said, adding that "multiple ambulances" have been dispatched to Daneshgah and Daneshjou streets.
Haalvsh, which focuses on Baluch affairs and draws on a network of sources in the southeastern province, cited sources saying that “security forces, plainclothes officers, and personnel from various security agencies have been dispatched to the clash locations, with a large number of security forces deployed across various streets throughout the city.”
“Checkpoints have also been established at several points, and the entry and exit routes of Zahedan have been blocked,” the rights organization said, citing “unconfirmed reports” that “several security personnel were killed and injured during these clashes, though precise numbers are not yet available.”
Iranian state media has yet to confirm the reports, but Saberin News, a prominent Telegram-based outlet affiliated with the IRGC, circulated images of individuals it described as “terrorists from the Jaish ul-Adl group who were killed early this morning in Zahedan,” as a source in the city reported that “three armed terrorists were killed.”
Sistan and Baluchestan is a large, impoverished, and underdeveloped frontier province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, primarily populated by Baloch and Sunni Muslim communities. The province has long been mired in deep security challenges between Iranian security forces and Baloch armed groups, including Jaish ul-Adl.
While localized anti-state and tribal unrest predates it, 2003 marked the beginning of an organized, modern militant campaign against Iranian security forces in the region. The province is also a frequent focal point for anti-establishment sentiment and periodic protests - particularly following Friday prayers led by prominent Sunni cleric Molana Abdolhamid - alongside persistent reports of heavy-handed state crackdowns against local populations.
The Friday clashes come days after a Sunni cleric closely linked to Iran's security establishment was shot dead in Sistan and Baluchestan province on Monday.
“The treasonous terrorist groups assassinated Molavi Yousef Gorgij, a prominent Sunni cleric known as an influential figure in promoting Shia-Sunni unity in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan,” the IRGC then said in a statement carried by semi-official Mehr News Agency.
“He was martyred this afternoon in a terrorist act carried out by enemies of unity and Baloch-killing factions, at the door of his home,” the statement added.
Haalvsh on Monday reported that Gorgij “was shot and killed by unknown armed individuals” in Zahedan, noting that “the identity of the perpetrators and their motive remain unknown” and that “no individual or group has claimed responsibility for the killing.”
The killing of Gorgij came days after another Sunni figure linked to the IRGC, Abdolraouf Eshaghi, from Sistan and Balushitan’s Saravan county, was killed last week.
"The self-serving terrorists must know that assassinating Baloch security guardians will not compensate for their consecutive defeats," the IRGC said in a previous statement, warning that "the pure blood of this martyr will not go unavenged, and other terrorist cells will soon be struck."
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