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 Mohajerani said after a cabinet meeting.
Bijar, 50, hails from the Baluch community.
His appointment follows an attack in Sistan-Baluchistan that killed at least 10 policemen, later claimed by the Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice).
Sistan-Baluchistan straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists, 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 organisation” 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.
