On Wednesday, Iran appointed Mansour Bijar as the first governor from the Baluch minority for the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, according to government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani. Bijar, 50, belongs to the Baluch community, a largely Sunni Muslim ethnic group in predominantly Shia Iran. His appointment comes after an attack in Sistan-Baluchistan that killed at least 10 police officers, an assault later claimed by the militant group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice).
Located on Iran’s border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sistan-Baluchistan is one of the nation’s most underdeveloped regions and a frequent site of cross-border attacks by separatists and Sunni militants. Founded in 2012 by Baluch separatists, Jaish al-Adl is designated a “terrorist organization” by Iran and the United States.
In September, Iran appointed the first Sunni governor for the Kurdish province since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and in August, President Masoud Pezeshkian named Sunni politician Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh as vice president for rural development. However, parliament later blocked Hosseinzadeh’s appointment, voting to retain him in the legislature, citing his “capabilities and experience.”
Additionally, last week, the government named Mohammad Reza Mavalizadeh as the first Arab governor for Khuzestan province in the southwest, home to a significant Arab minority. Sunnis make up about 10% of Iran’s population, while Shia Islam remains the official state religion.
