The Baluchis of Iran
The Baluchis of Iran live in the southeastern
tip of Iran and form the majority of the province of Sistan-Baluchistan which
sits along Iran's border with Pakistan. There are also many Baluchis living in
the provinces of Kerman and Khorastan. Their history in this region can be
traced back as far as the 7th century A.D. They also have kindred groups in
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Baluchis are mostly Sunni Muslims and are divided into tribal groups. At a
few points in their history, a single tribal leader was able to unite all
Baluchis but this unity rarely lasted past his death. The rest of the time,
their tribal differences were divisive. The Baluchis, even until today, are
mostly illiterate and non-urban and their culture shows many traits of nomadic
and warrior traditions.
The provinces in which the Baluchis live are among the poorest in Iran. Attempts
by the Iranian government (both under the Pahlavis and the current government)
to integrate the Baluchis into the Iranian economy were intended to bring the
region under the government's control and not necessarily improve the lot of the
Baluchis. Perhaps due to this poverty and the remoteness of the region, the
production and smuggling of opium has become a major industry in the region.
This has not surprisingly resulted in clashes between Baluchi smugglers and the
government, but this seems to be more due to the "business" of the smugglers
rather than their ethnicity.
The Baluchis, mostly due to the remoteness of their living in a mountainous and
desert region, were effectively autonomous for most of their history. Even
today, their isolation limits the amount of government control of their region.
Their isolation was first disturbed by the British in the second half of the
19th century. However, until Reza Shah came to power in 1921, they remained
mostly autonomous. As part of his campaign to centralize Iran's government and
economy, Reza Shah launched a series of pacification campaigns against the
Baluchi and by 1935, none of the Baluchi tribal chiefs were able to oppose him.
After a brief period of independence during and after World War II, the Pahlavis
reasserted their control over the Baluchis. The Baluchis did well under the
secular Pahlavi government and their tribal leaders entered into a patron client
relationship with the Pahlavis which allowed them limited self government. This
ended after the Iranian revolution. In 1980, a non-Baluchi Shi'i governor was
appointed as governor of Sistan-Baluchistan and the patron-client relationship
ended. This both angered Baluchis and freed them of the economic controls that
went hand in hand with their patron-client relationship with the Shah. Also, the
religious differences between the Sunni Baluchis and the Shi'i controlled
government, which had not been a problem under the secular government of the
Pahlavis, began to cause tensions. The Iranian government uses its usual strong
arms methods which include assassinations, arrests, torture, executions and
other civil and human rights violations in order to put down any real or
perceived resistance to their rule. Despite this, since 1980 the Baluchis have
been sporadically engaging in armed resistance against the Iranian government.
The information on such fighting is clearly incomplete and it is often difficult
to distinguish between rebellion and clashes between government forces and
Baluchi smugglers and drug dealers.
Since only Iran's ruling party has been legal since the revolution and that was
disbanded in 1987, the Baluchis have no legal political parties. They also have
no illegal organizations.
Also, during the 1980s, the war in Afghanistan caused the flow of a considerable
number of refugees and guerrillas into the regions in which the Iranian Baluchis
live.
ChronologyMarch 13 1990: Pakistani security forces kill 7 people when they raid
a hideout of Iranian saboteurs planning attacks on Iran in the area of
Sistan-Baluchistan.
March 28 1990: Iran executes 2 men for spying for Iraq and collaborating with
bandits and counter-revolutionaries in the Sistan-Baluchistan area. Note: Iran
executes many of the rebels it catches. Such executions will not be further
noted unless otherwise noteworthy.
March 28 1990: UPI reports that Iran is facing a low-key rebellion among Baluchi
tribesmen in the southeastern territories. The rebels are frequently referred to
as drug traffickers, bandits and counter-revolutionaries. Note: Incidents will
not be reported in this chronology unless at least one source refers to those
perpetrating the incident as rebels or their actions are clearly rebellious.
April 1990: Iranian security forces clash with armed rebels and drug traffickers
in the Sistan-Baluchistan province several times this month.
June 7 1990: "Armed bandits" kill a prominent Iranian cleric in
Sistan-Baluchistan.
February-March 1991: Severe flooding damages crops and property leaving at least
50,000 homeless. In the following months and years a considerable amount of
foreign aid is donated to deal with this problem.
June 1991: Clashes between Baluchi tribesmen and government forces in the
Sistan-Baluchistan province result in the deaths of over 100 of Iran's
revolutionary guards.
July 1991: The Independent (July 16, 1991) reports that during 1990 in heavy
fighting with Baluch tribesmen, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard lost at least 20
helicopters and "devastated" many Baluchi villages.
September 13 1991: Iranian opposition radio reports clashes between Baluchi
combatants and Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the city of Khashi. They also
report a demonstration in the city of Birjand.
October 18 1991: Iranian opposition radio reports clashes between Baluchi
"strugglers" and "the regime's agents."
November 5 1991: Iranian opposition radio reports continued clashes between
Baluchi "strugglers" and Iranian government forces.
November 28 1991: Iran claims to have killed 27 Baluchi rebels in a raid on a
hideout in Sistan-Baluchistan.
April 18 1992: 300 Afghan guerrillas based in Sistan-Baluchistan return to
Afghanistan.
June 24 1992: Local people protest over Iran's setting up a military base and
violently clash with Iranian revolutionary guards in Zahedan, the capital of
Sistan-Baluchistan. 6 revolutionary guards are killed and the township's mayor
is taken hostage.
March 18 1993: 3 Iranian Baluchi activists are murdered in Karachi by what are
believed to be agents of the Iranian government.
June 6 1993: Mohammed Hassan Arbab, a Baluchi activist, is shot dead by gunmen
believed to be working for Iranian security forces.
November 17 1993: Amnesty International includes Baluchis in a list of groups
especially subject to human rights violations in Iran.
February 2 1994: Demonstrators in Sistan-Baluchistan attack public buildings and
military vehicles in Zahedan, the province's capital, on the 15th anniversary of
Iran's Islamic revolution.
February 6 1994: The Iranian government reinforces security forces in
Sistan-Baluchistan due to clashes between police and armed protestors who were
denouncing Iran's demolition of a Sunni mosque in the city of Mashad in the
province of Khorastan. 21 protestors and 4 security men are killed and at least
30 are wounded. The government claims that the unrest was caused by drug
smugglers.
October 27 1994: Deutsche Presse Agentur reports that a self-proclaimed Baluch
National Council has called for a special status for the Sunni-dominated
Sistan-Baluchistan region within the Iranian Shi'i theocracy.
June 7 1995: A group of 97 "bandits", including Abdollah Lushari a member of the
Baluchi nationalists and 20 of his men, surrender to government forces.
Update June 1999
March 10 1996 Reformers gain a majority of seats in first round polls. (ABC
CLIO)
April 21 1996 Conservative parliamentarians in Iran's Islamic consultative
Assembly lost more seats in the run off elections held on April 19. (ABC CLIO)
May 23 1997: Khatami, a moderate, is elected president with 69% of the vote.
Khatami promised in the campaign to reduce censorship and support a diversity of
attitudes. (ABC CLIO)
October 25 1998 Conservatives dominate election to the council of experts when
many of the reformist candidates were disqualified. (ABC CLIO)
March 8 1999 Moderates win in first local elections in 20 years. (ABC CLIO)
Risk Assessment
The situation of the Baluchis since 1989 seems to have remained unchanged, both
economically and politically. They still inhabit some of the poorest regions in
Iran and still are denied autonomy by the Iranian government. The rebellion and
activism against the government seems to be continuing. However, information on
the situation in these regions is limited and it is likely that more activism
and rebellion against the Iranian government is taking place than is indicated
by this chronology. Since 1995 there has been even less media exposure for the
Baluchis.
Copyright balochistaninfo Productions 20004
