![\"killings-and-resulting-protests-highlight-worsening-plight-of-porters-on-irans-borders\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/killings-and-resulting-protests-highlight-worsening-plight-of-porters-on-irans-borders.jpg\" "\\"killings-and-resulting-protests-highlight-worsening-plight-of-porters-on-irans-borders\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
On Monday, eight fuel porters in Iran\u2019s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan were killed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC<\/a>) after staging a protest over the hardline paramilitary\u2019s efforts to obstruct the border and undermine the porters\u2019 livelihood. Dozens of other protesters were reportedly injured in the clash, which sparked much wider protests the following day.<\/p>\n Prior to the first round of protests, the IRGC had dug deep trenches near the border with Pakistan, which is the only source of income for many people in the region. The IRGC also positioned tanks and heavy artillery in that region as part of a wide-ranging effort to halt the transportation of fuel by the porters known as sokhtbars, who are almost exclusively members of the local Baluch ethnic community.<\/p>\n The situation of the sokhtbars in Sistan and Baluchistan is very similar to that of the kolbars<\/a> in Iranian Kurdistan, who carry a wide range of goods, over harsh and dangerous terrain, to the impoverished and politically neglected region. On both the western and the southern borders, the killing of these porters by security forces and the IRGC is a fairly common occurrence.<\/p>\n<\/div>Angry locals storm Governor\u2019s Office after IRGC kill residents in SE Iran<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>![\"Angry](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FdnYyTdKbxzY%2F0.jpg\")