Iran appoints first Baluch governor

TEHRAN:

Iran's government on Wednesday appointed the first governor from the Baluch minority in the country's restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.

"Mansour Bijar was chosen as the governor of Sistan-Baluchistan," government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said after a cabinet meeting. Bijar, 50, hails from the Baluch community, an ethnic group in the country.

His appointment follows an attack in Sistan-Baluchistan that killed at least 10 policemen, later claimed by the jihadist group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice). Sistan-Baluchistan straddles the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is one of the Islamic republic's most impoverished provinces.

It has long been a flashpoint for cross-border attacks by separatists and Sunni extremists, and clashes between security forces and armed groups are common.

Jaish al-Adl, which was formed in 2012 by Baluch separatists, is considered a "terrorist organisation" by both Iran and the United States.