Terrorist Attack in Nikshahr Leaves One Dead

Mahr News Agency reported on Saturday morning, February 1, that a "terrorist" incident occurred in the city of Nikshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan. An hour after the incident, a Twitter account attributed to the Jaish al-Adl group claimed responsibility for the attack. The Jamearan news website also quoted a statement from the Quds Ground Force of the IRGC in southeastern Iran, stating: "As a result of the armed attack by terrorists on the Basij Resistance Base in Nikshahr, one person was martyred." According to this report, the incident left "one dead and five injured." The condition of two of the injured is reported to be "critical." Mahr News Agency quoted the prosecutor of Nikshahr stating: "This morning, two armed individuals crossed the adjacent wall of the Basij Resistance Base in this county and opened fire." Jamearan identified the victim of the incident as a "member of the IRGC," and Tasnim News Agency named the individual as Morteza Ali-Ahmadi. The incident, described as "terrorist," occurred during the morning ceremony at the Basij Base in Nikshahr. The assailants have fled the scene. In recent months, several similar incidents have occurred in Sistan and Baluchestan, including last week when Iranian news agencies reported two explosions in the city of Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan. Local news sources reported that after a loud "explosion" was heard in Zahedan, the police chief of Sistan and Baluchestan stated that the explosion of a "homemade" grenade and a "suspicious" package resulted in injuries to three police officers. The Jaish al-Adl group also claimed responsibility for this incident. A month prior, in mid-January, armed individuals fired at a traffic police vehicle in Zahedan, resulting in the death of a police officer. No group claimed responsibility for that shooting, but media close to the IRGC referred to the assailants as "bandits." The most severe incident of this kind in Sistan and Baluchestan occurred in mid-December of this year when, for the first time in Iran, a suicide vehicle attempted to enter the police command center in Chabahar, but exploded at the entrance due to resistance from the protective forces, resulting in two deaths and 40 injuries. A week after that "terrorist" incident, law enforcement sources reported the identification and arrest of all those involved. Some reports attributed responsibility for that suicide explosion to the "Ansar al-Furqan" group. In recent months, reports have also emerged from Sistan and Baluchestan regarding the abduction of several Iranian border guards, who are said to have been taken to Pakistan. In addition to Sistan and Baluchestan, which has witnessed such incidents continuously in recent months, a similar incident occurred in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran. On the last day of September, an attack on a military parade in Ahvaz resulted in at least 25 deaths. The UN Security Council condemned it as a "terrorist attack" in a statement on October 24. Initially, Iranian officials announced a group known as the "Arab Liberation Movement of Ahvaz" as responsible for the attack, and the spokesperson for this group stated in various interviews that the "National Resistance Group of Ahvaz" was involved in the attack. However, later the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the "terrorist" attack by releasing a video of the assailants. The IRGC announced a week after the deadly Ahvaz incident that it had targeted the "headquarters of the leaders" of the Ahvaz attack in eastern Euphrates in Syria with six medium-range ballistic missiles. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, reported in November of this year that 80 "destabilizing operations" planned to be executed in Iran had been identified and neutralized this year. The "terrorist" incident in Nikshahr occurred at a time when the Islamic Republic is celebrating its 40th anniversary.