Iran Executes Man Convicted over Police Station Attack in Baluchistan

Iranian authorities executed an ethnic Baluch man on Saturday after he was convicted of participating in an armed attack on a police station in the country’s southeast. The attack killed and injured members of the security forces, according to Reuters.

Mohammad Aref Shahbakhsh was convicted of armed rebellion and “waging war against God” over the attack on the Qaleh Bid police station in Khash, in Sistan-Baluchistan province. Iranian semi-official media reported that he belonged to Jaish al-Adl.

The report did not specify when the attack occurred or how many police officers were killed or injured.

Jaish al-Adl, which operates in southeastern Iran near the Pakistani border, has carried out several attacks against Iranian security forces.

Bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sistan-Baluchistan is Iran’s second-largest province by area. Predominantly populated by the Baluch minority, its residents have long complained of economic marginalisation and underdevelopment compared with other Iranian regions.

The execution comes as reports from the United Nations and international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, indicate that annual executions in Iran have reached their highest levels in nearly a decade.