Iranian media are reporting a fresh armed confrontation today, October 2, between security forces and members of what authorities describe as a terrorist group in a village in Rask County, southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan. Details remain limited and Iranian authorities have not yet publicly identified the organization involved or announced a final casualty toll.
But this did not begin today.
Only yesterday, gunmen opened fire from the direction of a river on the Ahmadabad police checkpoint at the entrance to Rask. Police returned fire and the attackers withdrew. First Sergeant Alireza Sanchouli was killed. No organization had claimed responsibility for that attack at the latest verified update.
So who are the attackers?
The organization immediately drawing attention is Jaish al-Adl, the Sunni-Baluch militant organization that has repeatedly attacked Iranian police, IRGC units and civilians in this same region.
But there is an important distinction: there is not yet verified evidence that Jaish al-Adl carried out today’s clash or yesterday’s checkpoint attack.
Jaish al-Adl emerged from the remnants of Jundallah and operates across southeastern Iran and the adjoining Baluch areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Its leader has been identified by the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center as Abdolrahim Mullahzadeh, better known as Salahuddin Farooqi. Washington itself classifies Jaish al-Adl as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The group has a long record in this exact theatre. It claimed the major April 2024 attacks on Rask and Chabahar, in which ten Iranian security personnel were killed and dozens were injured, as well as numerous earlier bombings, ambushes and assassinations.
Why Rask?
Rask sits close to the Pakistani border and has repeatedly become a battlefield because armed groups can exploit the mountainous and sparsely controlled frontier.
Iran has previously said Jaish al-Adl maintained bases inside Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Tehran even launched missiles and drones against alleged Jaish al-Adl bases there in January 2024 — triggering a serious Iran-Pakistan crisis. Reuters has independently documented that the group operates on both sides of the border.
WHO FUNDS THEM? This is where claims need to be separated from evidence.
Iranian officials have repeatedly accused Israel and hostile intelligence services of supporting anti-Iranian armed groups, and Iran’s foreign minister specifically alleged in 2024 that Jaish al-Adl had links to Israel. Reuters reported the accusation, but it has not been independently established as fact.
There is also no solid public evidence that the United States finances Jaish al-Adl. In fact, the latest U.S. State Department terrorism assessment explicitly says the group’s “sources of support are unknown,” while simultaneously keeping it designated as a terrorist organization.
What is more concrete is evidence of jihadist networking. A UN report recorded information from one member state that ISIS-K had cooperated with Jaish al-Adl and supplied suicide bombers for operations, including the April 2024 Rask–Chabahar assault. That is a significant connection, although the UN report attributes the intelligence to a member state rather than presenting it as independently proven by the UN itself.
The Bigger Picture
These attacks are occurring while Iran is already under enormous external military pressure amid the continuing confrontation with the United States and Israel. That makes every security incident in the southeast politically explosive.
But timing alone is not evidence of coordination.
For now, the defensible conclusion is this:
An armed network is again active around Rask. Jaish al-Adl has the history, geography and operational footprint to make it highly relevant to the investigation — but Tehran has not yet publicly proven that it carried out today’s clash.
And despite years of accusations about foreign sponsors, who exactly finances these cells remains one of the least transparent parts of the story.
What is clear is that southeastern Iran has once again become an active internal security front at exactly the moment Tehran can least afford another one.