Iran claims foreign involvement in Sunni militant attacks

Ten Iranian security force members died putting down attacks in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, state-run IRNA media agency reported Thursday. State media said the security forces killed 18 alleged terrorists, who it said had attacked five military and public sites. Iranian forces also apprehended two people who allegedly supported the individuals conducting the attacks, according to the report.

Who were these attackers? The Jaysh al-Adl group had attacked sites in the southeastern cities of Rask and Chabahar, the IRNA reported. The militant group is aligned with Sunni Muslims, a religious minority in Iran. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attackers were affiliated with what it called foreign spy services.

What’s the context of this conflict? The attacks follow allegations by the Iranian regime that Israel struck its embassy property in Damascus, Syria. The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement promising that it would respond forcefully to the attack. Earlier this week, an Iranian ambassador to the United Nations also demanded a condemnation of the strike during a UN Security Council meeting.

Hasn’t Iran also been linked to terrorism? In its 2022 Country Terrorism Report, the U.S. State Department labeled Iran the “leading state sponsor of terrorism.” Saying that the IRGC had supported terrorist attacks in Lebanon, Syria, and Bahrain. The Defense Intelligence Agency reported earlier this year that the Iranian regime had also been supplying Yemen’s Houthi rebels with missiles and drones.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s recent discussion with Joe Truzman on The World and Everything in It podcast about what it would take to deter Iran from attacking U.S. forces in the region.