New videos posted on social media on October 1 appear to show clashes in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province. The videos appear to show gunmen and smoke billowing from the area of Zahedan city in southeast Iran.
This has long been an area of tension between the Iranian regime and local Baloch rebels. Iran considers the Baloch groups to be “terrorists.”
Rudaw media in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq reported that “heavy clashes erupted between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Baluchi militants in Zahedan on Thursday morning, with videos published by a human rights monitoring group showing heavy gunfire in residential areas of the southeastern city.”
The Kurdistan region tends to pay close attention to Iranian dissident activity in Iran, especially among other minority groups such as the Baloch.
The report quoted Haalvsh, which monitors human rights violations in Baluchi areas, noting that Haalvsh “said the clashes began early morning, hours after a security forces checkpoint was attacked, killing one officer.”
The report added that “Haalvsh sources said the clashes started at around 6:00 a.m., with heavy gunfire and RPG fire still being heard in the area…As of the time of reporting, there was no precise information about the identities of those involved or the number of people killed or wounded.”
The tensions have been increasing in Zahedan, which is close to the border with Pakistan. There are Baloch militants on both sides of the border.
Rudaw noted that Haalvsh “said Saturday that Iranian security forces killed 28-year-old Obeid Zardkouhi and arrested 28-year-old Jasem Jamali during a raid on Zardkouhi’s home on Friday in Iranshahr County. Jamali was taken to an unknown location, the group said.”
A video that was published on September 29 also claimed to show Iranian-backed Fatemiyun Afghan Shi’ite volunteers in the mountains near Zahedan. The Fatemiyoun is a unit of Afghan Shi’ites recruited by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Fatemiyoun served Iran in Syria but then left in 2024 when the Syrian regime fell. According to the report, some of them were deployed to fight the Baloch militant group Jaish al-Adl.
Amnesty International's Iran team highlights regime violence against Baloch minority
Amnesty International’s Iran team noted on September 30 that “four years ago today, security forces in Iran unlawfully killed 87 protesters and bystanders from the persecuted Baluchi ethnic minority in Zahedan in what became known as ‘Bloody Friday’ during the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising.”
Iran’s Fars News, which is close to the IRGC, reported an explosion in Zahedan on September 30, apparently part of the recent clashes. Iran’s state-run Press TV claimed Iran was fighting “terrorists” and published video of the clashes.
In a separate post by Rudaw in September, the Kurdish media outlet noted that “a Balochi rights group on Tuesday reported clashes between Iranian armed forces and ‘armed individuals’ southeast of Iran, the latest in a successive increase of tensions in the past month in the restive southeastern province.”
Also quoting Haalvsh, the report claimed that “dozens of military vehicles and a main battle tank have been deployed to the scene, with both light and semi-heavy weaponry being used in the confrontation.” This suggests that Iran’s regime fears the conflict is escalating.