Iran executes man convicted of deadly attack on police station in restive region, judiciary says

Iran executes a man convicted of being involved in a deadly assault on a police station, according to the judiciary.

“The death sentence of Mohammad Aref Shahbakhsh — an operative linked to the terrorist group Jaish al-Zolm (al-Adl) — was carried out this morning following the completion of all legal procedures,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website reports.

Jaish al-Adl is an outlawed armed group in Sistan-Baluchistan province, one of Iran’s poorest, which has long seen clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni Muslims and members of the ethnic Baloch minority.

“The attack on Qaleh Bid police station in Khash city in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan resulted in the martyrdom and injury of several police personnel,” the judiciary’s media notes, without specifying the date of the attack.

Shahbakhsh was convicted of “baghi (armed rebellion against the Islamic state) and moharebeh (waging war against God) for his role in the armed attack on the station,” Mizan says.

Clashes between armed groups and Iranian security forces in the region have flared again in recent months.

Iran executes more people annually than any country except China, according to rights groups outside the country, including Amnesty International.