Iranian Balochistan

An article by Chris Zambelis at the Jamestown Foundation highlights the current unrest in Iranian Balochistan. The troubles inside Iran are certainly related to the independence movement next door in Pakistan's Balochistan province, as Balochs live in Iran and Afghanistan.

Baloch nationalist websites frequently post graphic photographs and video footage of alleged Iranian security operations and atrocities committed against Iranian Baloch civilians (http://www.balochwarna.org). The official website of the Balochistan People's Party (BPP), a movement advocating the federalization of Iran and what it describes as Baloch sovereignty within a democratic Iran, describes a recent Iranian military operation that allegedly commenced on May 15 as the "Islamic clerical regime's atrocities towards Sunni Baloch" and included helicopter gunships and airstrikes against civilian centers in Sistan-Balochistan. The website also includes visual evidence of what it claims are innocent victims of Tehran's crackdown and the recent killing of Sunni Baloch clerics by Iranian security forces (http://www.balochpeople.org).

It is unclear whether a group operating under the name Jundallah in Pakistani Balochistan is affiliated with its Iranian counterpart, although Tehran and Islamabad claim that Baloch militants on both sides of the border cooperate in the area of arms and narcotics trafficking and financing (The News International, January 8; Asia Times, June 8). Given the lawless and porous border region dividing Iranian and Pakistani Balochistan, it is difficult to determine whether this cross-border activity is linked to Jundallah's campaign or everyday crime typical in the region.

Historically, Tehran and Islamabad have collaborated in suppressing Baloch nationalism, often through brutal military crackdowns. Both countries see Baloch nationalism as a serious threat to regional stability and the territorial integrity of both states. Ongoing negotiations over the construction of a proposed pipeline that would deliver Iranian natural gas to Pakistan and India, much of which would traverse large swaths of Iranian and Pakistani Balochistan, is another point of concern that brings both sides together on the threat posed by Baloch nationalism and the emergence of groups such as Jundallah (Dawn, June 10).

Zambelis refers to Abdulmalak Rigi as the leader of Jundallah, a Baloch resistance organziation in Iran. In April, I mentioned this Iranian report saying Rigi had been killed.

Zambelis refers to this interview from Rooz Online dated May 14 in which Rigi appears to be quite alive.

Perhaps that earlier Iranian report was a bit of propaganda, to make the Iranian people think Iranian forces were having some success putting down this revolt?