Iran's Security Forces Fight Separatists in Port City of Chabahar
Fighting is continuing for a fourth day in Iran’s southeastern port city of Chabahar.
Chabahar is the principal port in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan province, which borders Pakistan’s Baluchistan. On both sides of the border, Baluchi separatists have mounted attacks on central government security forces, but attacks have intensified on the Iranian side of the border. Over the past six months, under the pretext of carrying out training exercises, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has mounted large-scale sweep operations across Sistan Baluchistan, and has suffered a steady flow of casualties.
The fighting in Chabahar broke out on February 22, when Jaish Al Adl separatists forced the evacuation of a government building responsible for the administration of rural affairs, then blew it up. Jaish Al Adl also attacked the Chabahar office of the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation. A protracted gun battle was taking place in central Chabahar on the morning of February 25, widely shared on social media, as IRGC security forces attempted to surround a Jaish Al Adl position.
Iranian military and security forces raided a house in Chabahar, Sistan and Baluchestan, using RPGs and heavy gunfire as clashes continue.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) February 25, 2025
Halvash that covers the event in the southeastern province reports the area is fully surrounded, but details on casualties or the reason for… pic.twitter.com/cWykemERkR
For external observers of Iran, it is difficult to gauge when local fighting will spread to other restive areas and spark a wider insurrection. The Iranian Crown Prince in exile, interviewed on February 25, believes Iran is already “in a revolutionary, or at the very least, a pre-revolutionary fervor," he said. “It’s escalating every day.”
But more pertinently, the IRGC – as an acute internal observer of the scene –- evidently also believes this to be the case, mounting large-scale internal security exercises, focused on border areas with large minority populations. These ‘exercises’ are a mix of mobilization rehearsals, intimidatory shows of force and an opportunity to launch pre-emptive strikes on what are thought to be forces opposed to the Islamic regime. Besides Sistan Baluchistan, these ‘exercises’ have also covered the Kermanshah area of western Iran, the traditionally restive Arabic-speaking Khuzestan across the border from Basra, and Tehran itself. The IRGC’s primary role is not defense of the country, but protection of the Islamic Revolution and its leaders, and the areas where the IRGC has exercised are the first places to look for any further uprisings sparked by the activity in Chabahar.
A particular area of concern for the IRGC appears to be the southern coastline abutting the Gulf of Oman, which has seen increased levels of both Iranian regular and IRGC naval activity. Rear Admiral Shahram Irani, the regular Iranian Navy commander, told Press TV recently two of his five deployed flotillas were covering this southern flank from the Indian Ocean.
The unprecedented levels of IRGC activity have been accompanied by a series of statements from the IRGC’s senior leadership. These statements reflect concern that the country may face further attacks from Israel, but also from the United States, aimed at neutralizing Iran’s covert nuclear weapons development program. Such statements have threatened a True Promise-3 operation, a larger scale ballistic missile and drone attack than Operation True Promise-2 launched against Israel on October 1, 2024. The Iranians have also brandished their ability to mount drone attacks from ships, and have been resupplying their Houthis allies. On the political front, the Iranian leadership has intensified its courting of allies and sympathizers, seeking to enmesh them in its defense and security arrangements.