The files we follow: Iranian foreign policy, Iranian homeland security
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On 3 April, a series of attacks took place in Iranian Sistan-Baluchistan, claimed by the Baluchi Sunni Islamist independence group “Jaish al-Adl”, or “Army of Justice” in Arabic. According to several Iranian media reports, the operations, which mainly targeted police stations and military operations centres, particularly in the towns of Chabahar and Rask, claimed 16 lives on 7 April, including 12 members of the Revolutionary Guards and four police officers.
In response to this security crisis, the Iranian representation at the United Nations issued a statement to the Presidency of the Security Council. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, permanent representative of the Islamic Republic, pointed out that this attack took place just two days ” after the reprehensible and despicable terrorist attack perpetrated by the Israeli regime against the diplomatic premises of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Damascus, in the Syrian Arab Republic “. The communiqué concludes with a message calling for States to cooperate in the face of this type of attack, and emphasising the desire to combat terrorism in the region: ” The Islamic Republic of Iran, which has suffered directly from the catastrophic consequences of terrorism, remains firmly committed to leading the fight against this scourge. We are determined to protect the illustrious and noble Iranian people and safeguard the security of neighbouring nations from the dangers posed by these malicious terrorist groups.” In short, this communiqué aims to project a positive and conciliatory image, and portrays the Iranian government as favourable to regional security stability. The intention above all seems to be to generate more compassion than mistrust among states that have already suffered terrorist attacks.
From a security point of view, Iran is indeed going through a period of unprecedented turmoil, characterised by major attacks on its own territory, such as the Kerman attack claimed by the Islamic State in January, which was the deadliest since the 1979 Islamic revolution. More recently, the attack also took place just 2 days after the military operation attributed to the Israeli army targeting senior representatives of the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Damascus. Nevertheless, the two events, different in nature both in their objectives and their dimensions, and part of two distinct conflicts, are presented by Iranian diplomacy as forming part of the same whole, namely international terrorism.
Tehran maintains its intention of denying its involvement in the regional confrontations, and is trying to place the attack it suffered in a wider context by drawing international attention to the aggressions suffered on its territory. Thus, despite the use of a discourse that attempts to avoid addressing the political and community tensions specific to Sistan-Baluchistan, the attacks perpetrated by Jaish al-Adl are symptomatic of a cross-border conflict that has been going on for many years now. The organisation, which has been present and active in the south-east of the country under this name since 2012, claims to be defending Sunni religious minorities as well as the independence of the Sistan-Baluchistan region from the Shia Iranian government. Given the porous nature of the Pakistan-Iran border, which encourages the movement of armed groups, and the fact that the Baluchi community lives on both sides of the border, repeated attacks by this organisation are a major source of tension between Tehran and Islamabad.
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