Sunni militants attack Iran Revolutionary Guards vehicle

Sunni Baluchi militants attacked a vehicle belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Tuesday in the southeast of the country, which has been hit by unrest in the past week, the state broadcaster IRIB reported, says Reuters.

It quoted Mohammad Hadi Marashi, deputy governor of the impoverished Sistan-Baluchestan province, as saying the vehicle belonged to a Guards engineering unit. He did not say whether or not there had been any casualties.

Marashi said the attack was carried out by the Sunni militant group Jaish al Adl (“Army of Justice”), which says it seeks greater rights and better living conditions for the minority ethnic Baluchis.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, including a 2019 suicide bombing on a bus that killed 27 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards.

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The pro-Baluchi news website Rasadbalochistan quoted Jaish al Adl as saying it had targeted two Guards vehicles.

In the past, Iran has accused its regional rival, Sunni Arab Saudi Arabia, of supporting Sunni separatist groups who have attacked its security forces. Riyadh has denied the charges.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet last week accused Iran of “persistent impunity for human rights violations” in minority regions, including Sistan-Baluchestan.

Iran has rejected such criticism as politically motivated and based on a lack of understanding of Tehran’s Islamic laws.

The on-going tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]