TEHRAN: Iran’s government on Wednesday appointed the first governor from the Baluch minority in the country’s restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.
“Mansour Bijar was chosen as the governor of Sistan-Baluchistan,” government spokeswoman Fatemeh MoHajjerani said after a cabinet meeting.
Bijar, 50, hails from the Baluch community, a mainly Sunni Muslim ethnic group in a majority Shiite country.
His appointment follows an attack in Sistan-Baluchistan that killed at least 10 policemen, later claimed by the Sunni jihadist group Jaish Al-Adl (Army of Justice).
Sistan-Baluchistan straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is one of the Islamic republic’s most impoverished provinces.
It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists and Sunni extremists, and clashes between security forces and armed groups are common.
Jaish Al-Adl, which was formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, is considered a “terrorist organization” by both Iran and the United States.
In September, Iran appointed the first Sunni governor for Kurdistan province since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In August, President Masoud Pezeshkian named Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, a politician from the Sunni minority, as his vice president for rural development.
Lawmakers later blocked his appointment, with one of them, Mehrdad Lahouti, saying parliament had voted in favor of keeping Hosseinzadeh in the legislature due to “capabilities and experience.”
But they agreed to his resignation on Wednesday in a subsequent vote.
The parliament did not provide further details on the reason for the change.
Also last week, the government named Mohammad Reza Mavalizadeh as the first Arab governor for southwestern Khuzestan province, which has a large Arab minority.
Sunnis account for about 10 percent of Iran’s population. Shiite Islam is the official state religion.
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Iran appoints first Baluch governor in restive province
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Iran appoints first Baluch governor in restive province
- Mansour Bijar hails from the Baluch community, a mainly Sunni Muslim ethnic group in a majority Shiite country
- Sistan-Baluchistan straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is one of Iran’s most impoverished provinces
Lebanon says 7 killed in Israeli strike on central Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon: Lebanon said an Israeli strike on central Beirut’s seafront killed at least seven people early on Thursday, another attack in the heart of the capital as Iran-backed Hezbollah launched more missiles at Israel.
The Israeli military said separately it had carried out strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight against Hezbollah, which had announced a major new operation against Israel.
Local media aired footage showing smoke rising along the seaside road area after the strike in central Beirut, which state-run National News Agency (NNA) said targeted a car.
“The Israeli enemy strike on Ramlet Al-Bayda in Beirut led to an initial toll of seven dead and 21 wounded,” the health ministry said in a statement.
It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began. Israel has also repeatedly hit the southern suburbs of Beirut where Israeli military said on Thursday it had hit 10 Hezbollah targets.
The NNA reported on Thursday that Israeli strikes had also hit several towns in southern Lebanon, including Taybeh and Al-Sultaniyya as well as Qana, near the city of Tyre.
Hezbollah said early Thursday that it had fired off missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.
Its offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced, with around 126,000 of them staying in collective shelters.
Some displaced people have been sleeping out in the open or in tents on the streets of Beirut, including in the seaside area of Ramlet Al-Bayda.
- Hezbollah operation -
Late Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for Israel to halt its ground offensive in Lebanon and on Iran-backed group Hezbollah to “immediately” stop attacks, after speaking with the country’s president Joseph Aoun.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said earlier that they had carried out a joint missile operation with ally Hezbollah against targets in Israel.
In turn, the Israeli military said early Thursday that “over the past hours, the IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon.”
It also said it hit “dozens of launchers” as well as Hezbollah intelligence and command sites in south Beirut.
It followed a string of Hezbollah statements saying its fighters fired barrages of rockets, advanced missiles and drones at towns, military bases and other locations, mainly in the Israel’s north.
On Wednesday, Israel pounded south Beirut and the country’s south and east, with the health ministry reporting several strikes that each killed at least eight people.
Authorities said a strike on an apartment in the densely populated Aisha Bakkar area in central Beirut wounded four people.
On Sunday, Israel hit a seafront hotel not far from Ramlet Al-Bayda, saying it was targeting Iranian foreign operations officers. Iran later said the raid killed four of its diplomats.
The Israeli military said separately it had carried out strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight against Hezbollah, which had announced a major new operation against Israel.
Local media aired footage showing smoke rising along the seaside road area after the strike in central Beirut, which state-run National News Agency (NNA) said targeted a car.
“The Israeli enemy strike on Ramlet Al-Bayda in Beirut led to an initial toll of seven dead and 21 wounded,” the health ministry said in a statement.
It was the third attack in the heart of the capital since the Middle East war began. Israel has also repeatedly hit the southern suburbs of Beirut where Israeli military said on Thursday it had hit 10 Hezbollah targets.
The NNA reported on Thursday that Israeli strikes had also hit several towns in southern Lebanon, including Taybeh and Al-Sultaniyya as well as Qana, near the city of Tyre.
Hezbollah said early Thursday that it had fired off missiles at an Israeli military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israel, which kept up its strikes in Lebanon even before the war despite a 2024 ceasefire with Hezbollah, has since launched air raids across Lebanon and sent ground troops into border areas.
Its offensive has killed more than 630 people, according to Lebanese authorities, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced, with around 126,000 of them staying in collective shelters.
Some displaced people have been sleeping out in the open or in tents on the streets of Beirut, including in the seaside area of Ramlet Al-Bayda.
- Hezbollah operation -
Late Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for Israel to halt its ground offensive in Lebanon and on Iran-backed group Hezbollah to “immediately” stop attacks, after speaking with the country’s president Joseph Aoun.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said earlier that they had carried out a joint missile operation with ally Hezbollah against targets in Israel.
In turn, the Israeli military said early Thursday that “over the past hours, the IDF has begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization across Lebanon.”
It also said it hit “dozens of launchers” as well as Hezbollah intelligence and command sites in south Beirut.
It followed a string of Hezbollah statements saying its fighters fired barrages of rockets, advanced missiles and drones at towns, military bases and other locations, mainly in the Israel’s north.
On Wednesday, Israel pounded south Beirut and the country’s south and east, with the health ministry reporting several strikes that each killed at least eight people.
Authorities said a strike on an apartment in the densely populated Aisha Bakkar area in central Beirut wounded four people.
On Sunday, Israel hit a seafront hotel not far from Ramlet Al-Bayda, saying it was targeting Iranian foreign operations officers. Iran later said the raid killed four of its diplomats.
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