Recent weeks have seen renewed attacks, assassinations and armed clashes in the southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan. The incidents occurred in the provincial capital of Zahedan, as well as smaller border towns.

The border region of Iran , Pakistan and Afghanistan is home to the Baloch ethnic minority. The region on either side of the Iran-Pakistan border is among the most economically disadvantaged of the wider area.

The Pakistani province of Balochistan is economically underdeveloped, despite having large reserves of natural gas, gold and copper.

The situation is similarly dire in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which is predominantly inhabited by Sunni Baluchis.…