Iran executes Baloch youth over deadly attack on police outpost

Iran's judiciary has executed a young man from Balochistan over a deadly armed attack on a police station in the country's south-east and the killing and wounding of members of the security forces.

The execution was confirmed in a report by Iran's semi-official media on Saturday.

The executed man was named as Mohammad Arif Shahbakhsh. According to the Iranian authorities, he was an active member of the Sunni armed group Jaish al-Adl.

According to Iranian media, evidence directly linking him to the armed attack on the Kaleh Bid police outpost in the Khash region of Sistan-Baluchestan province led to the verdict. Several police personnel were killed and injured in that attack.

Iran's Revolutionary Court found him guilty of armed rebellion and waging war against the state and religion, an offence treated under Iranian law as moharebeh, or war against God.

However, the report did not give specific information about exactly when the attack on the Kaleh Bid police station took place or how many police personnel were killed or injured in it.

Sistan-Baluchestan province lies in the border region with Pakistan. The area has long seen conflict between the Baloch minority community and the security forces of Iran's Shia government.

Jaish al-Adl, meaning the Army of Justice, is a Sunni Baloch separatist armed group. It has long been active in this south-eastern province of Iran bordering Pakistan.

Citing discrimination against the Sunni Baloch people in the province, the group has regularly carried out deadly attacks targeting posts and patrols of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and border guard forces.

The group has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Iran, Pakistan and the United States.

Tehran has recently intensified operations against armed groups as part of tighter security in the border area. Analysts believe this execution sends a stern message to the armed groups in the region.