Reported by MPOI/MEK
Iran, Dec. 5, 2018 – A hardworking Baluchi father in southeast Iran, who put food on the table for his family by selling gasoline, was gunned down and murdered on Tuesday by members of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). News of this incident broke out on social media, shedding light on only a small portion of the cruelty imposed on the Iranian people, especially the constantly oppressed Baluchi minority.
Iranian regime authorities have increased their lethal measures against Baluchis who are selling fuel. This is in parallel to their killing and murdering of porters in the Kurdistan region of Iran’s western border with Iraq and Turkey.
On November 26, the Iranian opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a statement reminding various cases of such atrocities carried out by the IRGC.
On Saturday, November 24, two impoverished Baluchi young people on Irandegan-Khash road (Sistan and Baluchistan province) who were carrying fuel with their own vehicle were burnt alive by direct firing of repressive forces and inflaming the car. On the same day, the regime’s murderers targeted two young men who were carrying few bags of tobacco with their car and severely injured them. Several other vehicles of Baluch compatriots were also hit.
This is a ring of the endless chain of regime crimes in Sistan and Baluchestan province. Killing of a young man in Khash under the pretext of having 10 liters of fuel on November 20, the burning of two young people in their car on the road from Iranshahr to Sarbaz on October 15, killing a young man and injuring another on the road from Mehrestan to Saravan on May 30, killing two young people from Dashtiari on May 25 and injuring a woman at Friday Bazaar of Iranshahr due to blind shooting in pursuit of a car on May 24, shooting of a young Baluchi laborer in Saravan due to having a few boxes of mango on May 22, killing a young man in the city of Saravan by direct shooting on the pretext of carrying four bags of rice in his car on May 10, killing a fellow Baluch by firing a bullet on the road to Khash and injuring the driver of the car who was earning a living by picking up passengers on April 27, firing on a Baluchi fellow from Qasr Qand village carrying 10 bags of rice in his car on March 30, are other examples of crimes of the religious fascism ruling Iran against Baluch compatriots.
The criminal rulers of the country are targeting hardworking Baluchi youth with their bullets while they have no other option except buying and selling a few liters of fuel or other items needed by the people due to the severity of unemployment and poverty and in spite of the many dangers they face. The unemployment rate in some areas of the province is 100 percent.
Alim Yarmohammadi, member of the regime's parliament from Sistan and Baluchestan, acknowledged a while ago that "more than 95 percent of the people in the province do not have access to proper food and nutrition. 75% of people are under the poverty line of food security and are in fact in a similar situation to those in Africa. The employment conditions are very bad. There is no industry and no agriculture "(State media – October 14, 2018).
According to the head of the Industry, Mining and Trade Organization in Sistan and Baluchistan, which is the youngest province in the country and 67% of its population is less than 30 years old, the level of economic participation and industrial employment is only 6%, which is the last in the country. Dehmardeh, the member of regime’s parliament from Zabul, said: "This province is the record holder for unemployment." Ahmad Ali Kikha, another Zabul representative, said almost absolute poverty was dominant over the entire region. From dusk to dawn, people are searching the city’s garbage bins to have something to eat, the Zabul cemetery has become a huge dormitory for the homeless who are deprived of having a suitable shelter … there are many women, men, and children who were burned in the fire of shots by the bullets of the security forces for carrying a few liters of fuel to provide for their livings, while 30,000-liter tankers belonging to powerful and rich were passing in front of their eyes…
Unemployment reaching 100%!
Alim Yar-Mohammadi, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament) from Sistan & Baluchistan Province, made startling remarks recently.
“95 percent of this province’s population have no access to adequate food and nutrition. 75 percent of the people are suffering from food poverty, very similar to people in Africa. Employment is catastrophic. There are no industries and no agriculture,” he said according to state media.
According to the Iranian regime’s head of the Industry, Mines and Trade Organization, in Sistan & Baluchistan, despite being the country’s youngest province and 67 percent of the people are less than 30 years of age, economic participation and industrial employment stands at merely six percent. With such numbers, this province is placed last in Iran.
Habibollah Dehmordeh, a Majlis member from Zabol, capital of Sistan & Baluchistan Province, has provided even more alarming words. “This province is the record holder in unemployment,” he said.
Ahmad Ali Kikha, another Majlis member from Zabol, added to these concerns.
“The entire region is under complete poverty. From dusk till dawn, people are digging in trash cans searching for something to eat. The Zabol cemetery has become the dormitory for a large number of homeless people… Many men, women, and children who resort to selling fuel to make ends meet, have been gunned down and killed by state police, while before their very eyes they see 30,000-liter tankers – belonging to those in power – pass by…”
The NCRI statement concluded:
The catastrophic situation of Baluchi compatriots is the immediate consequence of the treacherous policies of a regime that wastes tens of billions of dollars of Iranian people’s assets on export of terrorism and war in the region, and tens of billions of dollars more are plundered by the leaders of the regime and sent to the accounts of the mullahs, the criminal Revolutionary Guards and corrupt and criminal children of the regime leaders. As long as the oppressive and corrupt regime of the Velayat-e Faqih is in power, poverty, unemployment, and corruption throughout the country and discrimination and double oppression against various ethnic minorities and tribes, and followers of various religions will intensify.
