Iran’s Sistan and Balochistan Province witnessed a deadly armed attack on Friday, December 15. Jaish ul-Adl, calling itself the “justice and equality” army, claimed responsibility for the attack. In this attack, 11 Iranian soldiers were killed, with seven others injured. Jaish ul-Adl’s attacks against the Iranian military are not a novel event. In mid-May this year, five Iranian border guards were killed as a result of an armed attack in the Saravan region of that province, for which Jaish ul-Adl claimed responsibility. Attackers belonging to this group attacked a military post in Zahedan on July eight this year, leaving two police officers dead. Before the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Jaish ul-Adl fighters used to target Iranian military outposts, but lately, while their attacks have increased, the way they launch them seems complicated. The important point is that the Jaish ul-Adl attackers launch an armed attack instead of suicide and explosive attacks, which is also prosperous, indicating its complexity. Additionally, it can show the weakness of Iran’s intelligence system to some extent.
The question that arises is why the activity of Jaish ul-Adl has increased recently against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It seems that two factors are effective in this regard:
1- The Tumultuous Situation in Zahedan
Zahedan, the center of Sistan and Balochistan, has been in an almost unprecedented situation following the murder of Mahsa Amini. The sermons of Mawlawi Abdulhamid Ismailzahi, a well-known Sunni cleric and Friday imam of Makki Zahedan Mosque, in defense of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement, which is still ongoing, made the atmosphere in Zahedan more security-based, causing the Revolutionary Guards to have a full presence in this area.
Esmailzahi’s speeches after the allegation of sexual assault by a police officer on a Baloch girl mixed with people’s feelings, leading to an incident on September 30, 2022, called “Bloody Friday of Zahedan” in which more than a hundred people were killed. Mawlawi Ismailzahi directly criticized Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, for being involved in killing the protesters. Esmailzahi’s critical sermons and the weekly protests of Zahedan citizens led to further severity of the police until Abdul Nasir Shahbakhsh, his grandson, and his bodyguard, Abdul Wahid Shahli, were also arrested. Following that, Mawlawi Abdul Majid Muradzahi, a famous Sunni cleric and Ismailzahi’s advisor, was also arrested by the police officers. These arrests appear more dangerous when attention is paid to the exclusion of Sunnis in Iran.
Moreover, Sistan and Balochistan is the most deprived province of Iran, as if its continuous deprivation is deliberate. This is evidenced by the Islamic Republic’s indifference to Sunni rights. Iran’s Sunnis are not in political power, nor do they enjoy the necessary freedom to perform their religious duties. It is reported that the Islamic Republic has a prejudiced view towards the Sunnis, especially the Baloch. For example, most of those who are executed are Baloch ascetics. It is further reported that they commit a crime, but committing a crime also has a reason: deprivation, poverty, discrimination, and others. When the above challenges are mixed with religion, the situation becomes more inflammatory, providing excuses to groups that call themselves Islamists. The origin of Jaish ul-Adl is this deprived province of Iran. This group considers itself the defender of the Sunnis and the opponent of the Islamic Republic. In the eyes of the Islamic Republic, Jaish ul-Adl is a terrorist group that its affiliated media refer to as “Jaish ul-Zalm”.
The current situation of Zahedan encourages this group to attack the interests of the Islamic Republic. Despite not condemning the attack, the Sunni preacher of Makki Zahedan Mosque expressed his condolences to the families of the victims emphasizing the need to maintain the security of Sistan and Balochistan. Ismailzahi may not be happy about the attack, but at least he wants to tell the Islamic Republic that the discriminatory treatment of the Baloch, the narrowing of the encirclement ring, and the killing of the protestors have consequences, no matter which group it is carried out by.
2- The Taliban’s Return to Power
The Taliban and Jaish ul-Adl have two things in common: both are Sunni with their base of operations in Pakistan. The Taliban’s return to power heralded as a victory against NATO, has emboldened other extremist armed groups. For example, Khaled Mashal, a member of the Hamas leadership, said in an interview with Al-Arabiya TV following the October 7 attack that the United States was defeated by the Taliban and Israel will be defeated by Hamas. It can be inferred from this statement that Hamas may be influenced by the Taliban’s return to power and has the goal of attacking Israel. Jaish ul-Adl, which has strong ties with the Taliban, is not satisfied with anything less than victory. For example, Rahmatullah Nabil, the general director of security of the previous government, claimed in August 2021 that Pakistan had sent 600 Jaish ul-Adl fighters to help the Taliban in the provinces of Nimruz, Farah, and Herat. He has also recently claimed that the Taliban had overthrown Nimruz Province with the help of Jaish ul-Adl. Additionally, at the beginning of this year, the Islamic newspaper announced that the Taliban had entrusted the responsibility of Nimruz, Farah, and Herat provinces to Jaish ul-Adl.
The truth of this news has not been clarified yet, but it indicates the depth of the relationship between the parties. It may be difficult to state that the Taliban are arming the fighters of Jaish ul-Adl and encouraging them to attack Iranian soil, but it is important to pay attention to one point, if the relationship between Iran and the Taliban worsens, Jaish ul-Adl will be used as an instrument of pressure against Tehran; the way Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is used against Islamabad. Apart from this, the presence of the Taliban in Afghanistan strengthens Jaish ul-Adl to attack Iran.
If the claims of the Islamic Republic are examined, other factors such as the involvement of the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can also be considered effective. Tehran accuses these four countries of supporting Jaish ul-Adl, while the United States also calls this group terrorist. Until recently, Iran believed that Jaish al-Adl was financially supported by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. For example, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, in 2017, in response to the killing of several soldiers of this country in the Jaish ul-Adl attack, requested Hassan Rouhani, the former president, to leave the IRGC free to take revenge on Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. These statements revealed that Tehran’s doubts about those two countries supporting Jaish ul-Adl are deep, but it is not clear whether it is still bound by this belief after the normalization of relations with the mentioned countries.
