Assassination of a Senior Iranian Security Official

Gunmen assassinated a senior security official in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran, according to Iran’s “Mehr” news agency on Friday.

The Iranian agency reported that “terrorists assassinated on Friday afternoon the Deputy Chief of Security Police in the city of Khash, Hossein Biri, near his home after attending Friday prayers in civilian clothes.”

Sistan and Baluchestan, located on the Iranian-Pakistani and Afghan borders and inhabited by a Sunni minority, has witnessed a conflict for years between security forces and militant groups in Iran.

The border province is among the poorest in Iran and often experiences attacks on security forces and security incidents orchestrated by militants belonging to extremist organizations, Baluch minority rebels, or drug and fuel smuggling networks.

Last month, four traffic police officers were killed in a “terrorist attack” in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, according to official media.

The region also witnessed the killing of a police officer in an attack on a police station in the city of Zahedan, the provincial capital, in July last year. The attack involved an exchange of gunfire that led to the death of the four attackers, according to official media.

At the time, the extremist Sunni group “Jaish al-Adl” (Army of Justice) claimed responsibility for the attack in the province, which Tehran classifies as “terrorist” and accuses of launching attacks from neighboring Pakistan.

The organization had claimed responsibility for a similar attack last December, which resulted in the death of 11 Iranian police officers.

Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran faced instability in 2022 when its residents joined protest movements that erupted across Iran following the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini (22 years old) after she was detained by the morality police for not adhering to strict dress codes in the Islamic Republic.

Editorial Board.