At Least 6 Dead In Militant Attack On Courthouse In Southeast Iran

This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

At least six people were killed and 22 injured after three Jaish al-Adl militants attacked a courthouse in Zahedan, the capital of the restive province of Sistan-Baluchistan in southeast Iran.

The Iranian judiciary in a statement on July 26 called the assault a “terrorist attack.”

Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch separatist militant group that is believed to be operating out of neighboring Pakistan, claimed the attack in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The group warned the judiciary’s personnel that Sistan-Baluchistan is “no longer a safe place” for them.

Iranian media said all three attackers were killed in the attack.

This marks the militant group’s deadliest attack in Iran since October 2024, when Jaish al-Adl militants ambushed a police convoy, killing 10 officers.

Jaish al-Adl, which is designated as a terrorist group by both Iran and the United States, has repeatedly clashed with security forces and Iranian border guards in Sistan-Baluchistan Province, at times taking them hostage or killing them.

Members of the Baluch minority, many of whom are Sunni Muslims in Shi’ite-majority Iran, have long faced disproportionate discrimination and violence at the hands of the authorities.

The area has also long been a key transit route for narcotics smuggled from Afghanistan to the West and beyond.