Iran Faces Rising Threat From Within as Baluch Insurgency Escalates
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We provide what many… Iran's vast and restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, located along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, has witnessed a deadly flare-up of violence in recent weeks.
Armed groups and Iranian security forces have clashed almost daily across the impoverished province, the site of a decades-long, low-level insurgency.
Separatist groups and Islamist militants in Sistan-Baluchistan, home to Iran's marginalized ethnic Baluch minority, are increasingly coordinating their efforts to challenge the Iranian state, experts say.
The intensifying insurgency has compounded the security threats facing Iran, which remains at war with the United States and Israel and braces for a possible resumption of major US combat operations.
"The renewed attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan come at a time when the Islamic Republic is facing unprecedented military and economic pressure," said Hamidreza Azizi, senior Iran analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
"What makes the situation more concerning for Tehran is the possibility that localized insurgent activity could become part of a broader security challenge," he added.
Baluch armed groups have claimed responsibility for a series of hit-and-run attacks, deadly roadside bombs, and shootings targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of Iran's armed forces, the Basij paramilitary force, and local police across the province in recent weeks.
On October 14, a police officer and local Basij commander were killed inseparate attacksin the town of Mehrestan, Iranian media reported.
A day earlier, the IRGC said one of its members was killed after a hostage-taking attempttriggered clashesin Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchistan.
Also on October 13, gun battles between gunmen and the IRGC broke out in the town of Taftan.
In response, the authorities have stepped up security operations in the province, including preemptive raids on suspected insurgent cells, underscoring the growing threat.
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