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Terror Turnabout: Iran Attacked
[New York Post] Amir Taheri - In Baluchistan in Iran, a bus carrying a dozen military officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is stopped in broad daylight by a group of police officers, who ask its civilian driver to disembark. Minutes later, a car bomb explodes nearby, shattering the bus and killing the passengers. Since 2002, 75 Revolutionary Guards have been killed by assailants in the region. Jund Allah (the Army of Allah) claimed responsibility. It is a predominantly ethnic Baluchi outfit, led by Abdul-Malik Khan. The Baluch are distinct from the Persian majority thanks to their language and culture. However, the main cleavage is because Baluchis are Sunni Muslims while Persians are Shiites. Iran's Baluch community, more than 2 million souls, is part of a 20 million-strong nation spread across Pakistan, Afghanistan, Oman and the Persian Gulf states. Sunnis account for almost 12% of Iran's population of 70 million. They are not allowed to have their own schools and mosques outside areas where they form a majority. Tehran is home to some 2 million Sunnis, who are denied the right to have a mosque of their own. The mullahs have rewritten all textbooks to reflect only the Khomeinist brand of Shiite Islamic theology, history and rituals. The registrar of birth does not allow newborn babies to be given typically Sunni names.