Eighteen people were killed
when a bomb exploded next to a bus owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in
the southeast city of Zahedan, the official IRNA news agency reports. "In
this act 18 Zahedan citizens have been martyred," said Qassim Rezai, a
local military commander. "Rebels and those who create insecurity martyred
these people in a terrorist act by laying a trap close to a bus." It is
not clear if those killed were members of the Guards. (Bloomberg
[1], Feb. 14)
Zahedan is capital of Baluchistan province, near the borders with Pakistan
and Afghanistan—a region where armed activity has been mounting. In Dec.
14, two bombs exploded in Zahedan, causing some property damage but no
causalities. The first bomb blast went off in front of the governor's
office, the other near Baluchistan University. The "Jondollah of
Baluchistan" claimed responsibility. (Balochistan People's Front
[2] website, Dec. 15, 2006) In October 2000, a car-bomb exploded near a
Shi'ite mosque in Zahedan, which local security officials immediately
blamed on "subservient elements of arrogance." (RFE/RL, Oct. 23, 2000,
archived at Global Security [3])
Chris Zambelis, writing on
the Jamestown Foundation [4]'s Global Terrorism Analysis page,
begins his briefing on the situation by noting that the Baluch insurgency
in Pakistan has won some world headlines:
In contrast, evidence of
a simmering rebellion and escalating violence between Tehran's own
ethnic Baloch minority and Iranian security forces in Iran's vast but
sparsely populated southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan is
receiving far less attention. Iranian officials and other observers
implicate an obscure Baloch militant organization known as Jundallah
(Soldiers of God) for spearheading the uprising. The Baloch campaign in
Iranian Balochistan, sometimes referred to as West Balochistan by Baloch
nationalists, is also being waged online through a sophisticated network
of independent news, activist and nationalist websites and chat forums
hosted in the region and abroad in multiple languages. Many of these
websites openly support the activities of Jundallah and violence in
general against Tehran and others perceived to be oppressing Baloch in
the region [1].
Ideology and Identity
Iranian Baloch see
themselves as the heirs of an ancient and proud tradition distinct from
Iran's ethnic Persian population—that make up a slim majority in
Iran—and other groups that comprise the Islamic Republic. Iranian Baloch
often identify with the larger Baloch community that resides in Pakistan
and Afghanistan in what is referred to as "Greater Balochistan" because
tribal and family lines traverse all three countries. The Baloch
historical narrative is shaped by a collective sense of oppression and
victimization by the imperial machinations of regional and colonial
powers that have led to the division of the Baloch nation. One Baloch
nationalist website directed toward Western audiences compares the
historic plight of the Baloch to that of the Kurds and their longing for
a Kurdish state (http://www.baloch2000.org [5]).
Unlike most Iranians who
are Shiites, the overwhelming majority of Iran's Baloch population
adheres to the Sunni branch of Islam. Despite a lack of concrete
evidence, Iranian authorities and some analysts believe that Jundallah
may have ties to Sunni Islamist extremists associated with al-Qaeda and
the Taliban operating across the border in neighboring Pakistan and
Afghanistan. These allegations are likely based on Jundallah's reliance
on religious symbols and discourse in expressing its nationalist
aspirations and deep-seated resentment toward the Shiite-dominated
Iranian state. Baloch nationalist organizations also emphasize the
Sunni-Shiite element—real or perceived—in the nascent conflict, further
proof in Tehran's view of the group's Sunni extremist pedigree.
Jundallah is also reported to operate under different names that reflect
its purported Islamist bent, including Fedayeen-e-Islam (those who
sacrifice for Islam) (Asia Times, June 8).
Iran has long been accused
of sponsoring the Baluch insurgency in Pakistan as a strategy to
destabilize the key US ally in the region. But Baluch ethnic nationalism
may now pose a threat to Tehran's control of its own internal Baluch
population. A unified Baluchistan would threaten Iran and Pakistan alike,
and the fact that the Baluch are a Sunni minority in Iran is a further
complicating factor. The US and unsavory organizations like Mujahedeen
Khalq [6] already seem to be exploiting separtist unrest in Iran's
western Khuzestan [7] province, home to the country's Arab
minority. Iranian Baluchistan may be straw waiting to burn...
See our last posts on
Iran [8] and the struggle in Baluchistan [9]
Links:
[1] http://www.theage.com.au/news/World/Iran-bus-bombing-kills-18/2007/02/14/1171405284160.html
[2] http://balochistanpeoplesfront.blogspot.com/2006/12/two-bombs-exploded-in-zahedan.html
[3] http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2000/40-231000.html
[4] http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?issue_id=3782
[5] http://www.baloch2000.org
[6] http://ww4report.com/node/2398
[7] http://ww4report.com/node/1546
[8] http://ww4report.com/node/3130
[9] http://ww4report.com/node/2437
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Iran alleges U.S.
link to militant attack
Tehran worries that America
is helping Iranian opposition groups foment instability.
By Kim Murphy, Times Staff
Writer
February 19, 2007
http://www.latimes.com
TEHRAN — Bullet cartridges
bearing a U.S. insignia and English lettering were among the weaponry
seized last week from Sunni militants suspected of killing 11 members of
Shiite-dominated Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, Iranian officials said
Sunday.
A photo of the cartridge box, along with an array of other ammunition, was
published by Iranian newspapers and news agencies.
Iran did not provide access to the weapons and explosives, drawing
skepticism from analysts, and there was no way of evaluating the claims
independently. But Tehran is clearly worried that the U.S. is quietly
helping Iranian opposition groups foment instability, even while the Bush
administration is confronting Iran over its nuclear program and accusing
it of arming Shiite militants in Iraq.
The Iranian allegations came a week after U.S. officials laid out what
they said was evidence of Iranian-made weapons in Iraq. That evidence also
was inconclusive, and Iran denied supplying arms to Iraqi combatants.
A Pentagon spokeswoman, Marine Maj. Rebecca Goodrich-Hinton, said Sunday
that officials had no comment about the allegations from Tehran.
Iranian officials in the southeastern region of Sistan-Baluchistan, where
a bus carrying the Revolutionary Guard troops was struck Wednesday by
explosives from a booby-trapped car, announced the accusations of U.S. and
British involvement in the attack.
"Washington and London are facing serious challenges as their interests in
the Middle East region have been endangered," an unnamed local official,
identified as the province's political director, told the semiofficial
Fars news agency. "Since the Islamic Republic is the main center of anti-U.S.
struggles, they are seeking to trouble Iran through a series of
challenges, including terrorist attacks and unrests."
He said weapons used in the attack, which wounded 31 people, were made by
the U.S. and Britain. "Moreover, the arrested terrorist agents have
confessed that they have been trained by English-speaking people," the
official said.
In the last year, Iran has seen a wave of protests and bombings from
non-Shiite minorities, especially Sunni Muslims living along the nation's
western border with Iraq and its eastern border with Pakistan and
Afghanistan, where two bombings occurred last week.
Sunnis make up about 8% of Iran's population and have long complained of
repression and discrimination by the Shiite-dominated government. Though
there are an estimated 1 million Sunnis in Tehran, the government has not
allowed construction of a single Sunni mosque in the capital.
Three people were reportedly hanged in the oil-rich southwestern province
of Khuzestan this month in connection with a series of deadly bombings
last year. Seven others in the case were previously executed, reports say.
Ethnic Azeris and Kurds also have been increasingly militant in favor of
greater autonomy, and the violence last week in Sistan-Baluchistan is the
latest in a wave of unrest among ethnic Baluch on both sides of the
Iran-Pakistan border.
Responsibility for the bus bombing and an explosion the next day was
claimed by the Sunni militant group Jundallah, or God's Brigade, which has
been blamed for previous attacks on Iranian troops in the region.
Stratfor, a Texas-based security and intelligence firm, said in a report
Saturday that the attacks "fall in line with U.S. efforts to supply and
train Iran's ethnic minorities to destabilize the Iranian regime." It said
a "covert intelligence war" between Iran and the U.S. is "well underway."
But other analysts said a large amount of U.S. military equipment supplied
to Iran in the years before the 1979 Islamic Revolution was still in use,
and the existence of U.S.-manufactured ammunition did not prove American
involvement.
The analysts said unrest in Iran was more likely a reflection of the
ethnic nationalism that is creating conflict in multiethnic nations across
the globe, including the former Soviet Union, former Yugoslavia and Spain.
"We're living in a period in history when multinational states break up.
And why should Iran be the exception?" said Edward N. Luttwak, a senior
fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in
Washington.
"I'd be very surprised if the level of violence by the Kurds and the
Baluch doesn't increase, or indeed if the Sunni Arabs in [Khuzestan] stop
agitating. It's a natural thing," he said.
kim.murphy@latimes.com
Times staff writer David Willman in Washington contributed to this report.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Baloch
Desperation to get Persian Attention is Fruitless
22-02-2007
By W. Garboni
The
recent escalation of violence against Baloch by the Persian chauvinistic
Islamic regime of Iran in which hundreds of Baloch youth have been
murdered by the way of either hanging or shooting have set Baloch
leadership on the move again. They are desperate to draw world attention
towards the misery through which Baloch under Iranian occupation are going
now. The media is the most powerful way with the help of which they can
pass their message to all human loving people and authorities around the
world.
The
media which has direct influence on the people and politicians of Iran is
in Persian and under the control of those who are wary of what they
transmit or publish; particularly things that they believe will endanger
the sovereignty of their beloved Iran is not being allowed. As the result
the Baloch leaders speaking on Balochistan’s issues with these channels
have imposed upon themselves a ‘self censorship’ and this is putting
forward a wrong message to the people and the wrong perception of Baloch
people’s struggle.
Can one ask; what will these Baloch leaders -who hide the facts for the
simple reason of getting the attention of Persian media- wish to achieve?
Is the solution of Baloch miseries rests on the Persian media and Persian
leaders who are not even tolerating a view of the true picture of Baloch
suffering? Or, are these Baloch leaders hoping to
solve
Baloch National Issues through the Persian opposition which has for 28
years failed to get rid of a blood thirsty undemocratic religious regime?
Some even question the viability of the said opposition and yet Baloch
have a hope from them? The answers are obvious.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of Baloch leaders to put a true
picture of Baloch National Struggle and seek the attention of the media
which has an influence on the decision makers of the world. Persian
Chauvinists under whom Baloch never lived in peace have no solution for
Baloch predicament. If a solution is sought that will be through capable
international powers and community.
It
is the Baloch leaders’ duty to put their case before these adept groups
and individuals. Negotiate with them the most favourable solution with the
help of international non-Persian democratic media.
Dear Baloch political intellect; today the international English Media
like BBC, Al-Jazeera, CNN and other popular channels will be more than
happy to hear you and transfer your message to the world. You must fulfil
your responsibility and approach them at this crucial turning point of the
history when suggestions of reshaping the region are being discussed.
