Iran tightens wartime crackdown across Kurdish, Baluch ethnic regions
Arrests in Baluchistan and Kurdistan highlight widening wartime security operations that are deepening mistrust between the state and disadvantaged minorities.
TEHRAN — Iran's Intelligence Ministry said on Tuesday that it had busted four alleged militant cells in Sistan-Baluchistan province, arresting 19 individuals accused of planning attacks under the direction of what has been described as the "American-Zionist enemy."
According to Mehr News Agency, security forces also seized heavy weapons, including rocket-propelled grenades, assault rifles and a machine gun, from alleged safe houses linked to the group. Authorities claim most of those detained were foreign nationals recruited and trained abroad before entering Iran.
Iran's internal security operations in peripheral provinces have historically been framed through external threat narratives, linking local dissidence to foreign intelligence operations.
But beyond the immediate security claims, the episode feeds into a broader and increasingly entrenched wartime governance logic — one in which ethnic minority regions are treated not only as security zones but as active front lines in a wider geopolitical confrontation.
