Iran appoints 1st Sunni-Baloch governor for restive southeastern province

TEHRAN, Iran

The Iranian government on Wednesday announced the appointment of the first governor for the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan from the minority Baloch community. 

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told reporters after a Cabinet meeting that Mansour Bijar has been chosen as the new governor of this restive border province.

She noted that the new appointee is a young official from the Sunni-Baloch community.

The spokeswoman said Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, a 44-year-old Sunni politician, was also appointed as deputy president for rural development affairs and disadvantaged areas.

Bijar has previously served as the deputy chief for urban development coordination in the provincial governor’s office and as director-general of the Technical Office, among other important executive posts.

He will be the first Sunni Baloch to hold the position of governor in this province, which shares borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The appointment comes only four days after 10 police officers were killed in an attack by armed assailants targeting two police patrol units in the province.

The incident occurred in the city of Taftan following clashes between militants and border police. The Jaish al-Adl militant group, which frequently targets Iranian security forces, claimed responsibility for the attack.

In April, five policemen were killed when militants opened fire on their vehicles on a highway near Sib and Soran County, also close to the Pakistan border.

This attack came less than a week after a separate clash in the same province between Jaish al-Adl militants and security forces, resulting in the deaths of 10 personnel and 18 militants.

There is “no difference between Arab, Ajam (non-Arab Persian speakers), Kurd, and Baloch ethnicities,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said during Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting, asserting that together they represent Iran’s “national power and unity.”

“Unity and cohesion, free from ethnic and partisan conflicts, lay the foundation for national power and unity in the country,” he added.

Sistan and Baluchestan, with a population of approximately four million, is one of Iran's most impoverished provinces and is affected by the presence of several armed groups.