{"id":348431,"date":"2026-09-29T20:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T19:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=348431"},"modified":"2026-09-29T20:58:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T19:58:59","slug":"heavy-armed-clash-in-iranshahr-as-rial-breaks-250000-and-domestic-strains-widen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-protests\/heavy-armed-clash-in-iranshahr-as-rial-breaks-250000-and-domestic-strains-widen\/","title":{"rendered":"Heavy Armed Clash in IranShahr as Rial Breaks 250,000 and Domestic Strains Widen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"iran
Security forces confront residents during unrest in Torbat-e Jam, northeastern Iran, as authorities move to suppress protests amid rising economic pressures \u2014 January 16, 2023<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A prolonged armed confrontation shook IranShahr in Sistan and Baluchestan on September 29, 2026, with sustained gunfire heard for hours in the Gharibabad district. Videos circulated by local media recorded heavy firing, while local sources reported the use of RPGs and said dozens of security vehicles, a tank and drones were deployed as roads into the area were sealed. Local reports said security forces surrounded a house during the operation.<\/p>\n

State media confirmed<\/a> the scale of the shooting but gave a markedly different account of who was involved. Tasnim said police had launched an operation against \u201carmed robbers,\u201d initially reporting that the suspects had been trapped while withholding their number, casualties or identities pending an official police statement. Local sources later identified the man killed after the hours-long standoff as 26-year-old Morteza Sotoudeh, from Abtar near IranShahr, and reported that security forces demolished the house where he had been surrounded with a loader after the fighting ended.<\/p>\n

The confrontation comes amid a conspicuous run of armed security incidents in southeastern Iran. Only six days earlier, the IRGC confirmed<\/a> that Brig. Gen. Hossein Zarifi, commander of the Sajjad operational headquarters in Saravan, was killed during another armed operation. A police officer was also killed and three others wounded in an attack on the Bazman-IranShahr road last week. Whatever the still-unclear nature of Tuesday\u2019s IranShahr confrontation, the frequency and scale of the recent operations point to sustained security pressure in Sistan and Baluchestan.<\/p>\n

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"On the morning after the ceasefire, every exhausted and exasperated mind, long numbed by the #IranWar<\/a>, will turn instinctively toward the search for real change and the practical means to bring this regime to an end." https:\/\/t.co\/8Tmh0Sl0Kc<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n