File image.
On November 6, four Iranian police officers were killed in a shooting attack in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
“The incident, at a traffic police station on the Iranshahr-Bampour highway, caused the martyrdom of police officers,” regional police chief Major Alireza Sayyad told the official Islamic Republic News Agency, adding that an investigation was underway.
The attacker was reportedly an Iranian soldier. Local officials believe that a personal dispute provoked the deadly shooting. However, opposition sources allege that the attacker had political motives.
Iran has been witnessing mass protests over the death of Masha Amini for several weeks now. The 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman died in September after being detained by the country’s moral police for allegedly not wearing a proper hijab.
According to Iranian authorities, dozens have been killed in the protests, so far. Many of the casualties were police officers and security personnel.
Alongside the protests, clashes also broke out in Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, on more than one occasion recently. Separatist Jihadi groups, first and foremost Jaish ul-Adl, were reportedly behind much of the violence there.
Iran believes that the intelligence of the United States, Israel and several European and Arab states have been fueling the unrest and even commanding protesters and terrorists.
Between September and October, the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked several bases of U.S.-affiliated Kurdish-Iranian opposition groups in northern Iraq. The armed groups were allegedly plotting to launch an insurgency against Iranian government forces.
A recent report by The Wall Street Journal revealed that Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are worried that Iran could soon began attacking energy info structure in Arab states working to destabilize it.
Senior Iranian officials have already warned that they will take action against any side that attempts to fuel unrest in the country.
Despite of the unrest, the Islamic government continues to enjoy the support of many in Iran. The last two month saw a series of mass rallies in support of the government. The most recent wave of rallies was held on November 4 to commemorate the 43th anniversary of the United States embassy takeover.
Protests in Iran will likely go. Violence in the country, especially terrorist attacks, could increase as a result. However, this will not likely produce any political change that could benefit the U.S. and its allies.
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