TEHRAN: Iran’s government named the first Baluch minority governor on Wednesday in Sistan-Baluchistan, a volatile region in the country’s southeast.
Following a cabinet meeting, government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani declared, “Mansour Bijar was chosen as the governor of Sistan-Baluchistan.”
50-year-old Bijar is a member of the Baluch community.
His appointment comes after at least ten police officers were slain in an incident in Sistan-Baluchistan.
One of the most poor provinces in the Islamic republic is Sistan-Baluchistan, which shares a border with both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Conflicts between security personnel and armed groups are frequent, and it has long been a hot spot for cross-border attacks by separatists and extremists.
Iran named Kurdistan province’s first Sunni governor since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in September.
