Assassination of a Teacher and a Basij Member in Sistan and Baluchestan

According to reports from the police and the education department, on Thursday evening, January 11, a teacher and a member of the Basij force in the region were killed by two motorcyclists in "Nasirabad village," near the city of Rask in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Ali Moradi, the head of the public relations department of the education department in Sistan and Baluchestan province, stated that two unidentified armed motorcyclists "assassinated" a teacher and a Basij member in Nasirabad village and fled the scene. The Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, identified the deceased teacher as Eisa Shahraki Asil and the Basij member as Adham Sabouri. Hussein Rahimi, the police commander of Sistan and Baluchestan, also told Fars News Agency that the two motorcyclists first "assassinated a Sunni Basij member returning home from buying bread" and then "opened fire on a Shia teacher 200 meters ahead" before fleeing the scene. Nasirabad village is located 35 kilometers from the city of Rask, which is the center of the Sarbaz County. Reports indicate that Eisa Shahraki is the third teacher to be assassinated in Sistan and Baluchestan province this year, following Jawad Norouzi and Reza Sargazi. Reza Sargazi, a teacher from the villages of "Karchan and Gornak" in the Qasr-e Qand County, was killed on October 29 while returning from school by two motorcyclists. Jawad Norouzi was also assassinated on April 15 in Sarbaz County. The assassination of these two individuals occurred less than a week after the killing of two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps along with a Basij member at the Saravan border in Sistan and Baluchestan province. In recent months, several Iranian military and police forces in the Sistan and Baluchestan region have been killed by armed groups. On Wednesday, December 5, three police officers from the Zahak County in Sistan and Baluchestan province were killed while on patrol. One day after this incident, Jamshid Rakhshani Nasab, the governor of Zahak, stated that "seven suspects involved in this incident" have been arrested. On Saturday, October 26, Iranian officials reported the deaths of two border guards in the border area of Sistan and Baluchestan province, and Pakistan also announced that a state militia member of this country was killed by Iranian police gunfire. Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Pakistani ambassador in Tehran on the evening of October 26. Islamic Republic officials claim that Pakistan, which shares a long border with Sistan and Baluchestan, has become a "safe haven for terrorists."