Over 600 Baluch Citizens Killed By Iran’s Regime Last Year: Monitor

Halvash website that covers events in Iran’s Baluchestan says in its annual report that 628 Baluch citizens were killed directly or indirectly by the Islamic Republic agents in the past Iranian year that ended on March 20.

According to the report, 182 Baluch people were executed in 23 prisons across Iran, out of which about 81% were drug-related cases.

At least 167 others have lost their lives due to the direct gunfire by military agents in Sistan-Baluchistan province.

On the other hand, at least 76 citizens were victims of "violence by generally unknown armed persons" last year. Activists believe these people are mostly armed by the IRGC to conduct missions for the security organizations.

The report further added that 82 people lost their lives when smuggling fuel across the border to Pakistan. Gasoline and especially diesel are extremely cheap in Iran because of heavy government fuel subsidies. One gallon of diesel is just 4 US cents.

More than 120 protesters were killed on Bloody Friday on September 30 and during protests in the following weeks in Zahedan and Khash, the report says. On Bloody Friday in Zahedan, the provincial capital, security forces killed more than 80 people, and injured hundreds. Zahedan is one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shiite Iran.

Since then, people in Zahedan held anti-regime protest rallies for 25 weeks in a row amid heavy presence by security forces.

Following Friday prayers every week and sermons by Sunni Baluch religious leader Mowlavi Abdolhamid, people hold demonstrations to vent anger at regime brutalities.