ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Unidentified gunmen on Saturday assassinated a Sunni Baloch cleric who commanded a local unit of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, an affiliated agency with the Guards reported, adding that a dissident group may have been behind the killing.
Tasnim News Agency reported on Saturday that Mohammad Yousef Qazi was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while travelling in his private vehicle. Fanuj County police commander Hossein Ahmadzadeh suggested that members of anti-government armed groups may have been responsible for the attack.
Ahmadzadeh told the agency that Mohammad Yousef Qazi was “head of the Qazi tribe, commander of the Mohtaramabad combat unit base and a trusted and peace-loving figure in the region.”
The assassination comes as Sistan and Baluchestan, populated mainly by Iran's ethnic Baloch and Sunni Muslim communities, has long faced deep-rooted security challenges, with Iranian security forces confronting Baloch armed groups and those they deem a threat to state security.
Haalvsh, a human rights group that monitors the Baluch community, also reported the killing, identifying the cleric and IRGC commander as Shams al-Haq (Yousef) Qazi.
The group described him as a “prominent cleric with close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and government institutions, saying he had promoted the Islamic Republic’s policies in the region, particularly in Khash and Fanuj counties.” The watchdog said his political and religious positions aligned with those of the government and the IRGC, and that he had played a role in implementing government policies in local communities.
The province has witnessed similar incidents in recent weeks. The People’s Fighters Front, a Baloch armed group, claimed responsibility for three attacks over two days that killed at least 11 IRGC personnel and members of Iran-backed militias.
So far, no groups have claimed responsibility for the Saturday attack and investigations by Iran’s police personnel are ongoing.
In mid-September, Molavi Yousef Gorgij, another Sunni cleric closely linked to Iran's security establishment, was shot dead in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
Haalvsh noted that Gorgij was widely regarded in the province as “someone close to government and security institutions,” and that “his activities and positions were largely oriented toward supporting Islamic Republic policies,” including against anti-government protesters and critics from Baloch and Sunni communities.
Iranian authorities frequently accuse armed Baluch groups of carrying out attacks and clashes in the province, alleging that they receive training and support from the United States and Israel.
