Iranian General and Pilot Killed in Helicopter Crash

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards general and a pilot were killed in a helicopter crash during an anti-terror operation in the country’s volatile southeast, state media reported on Monday.

The “ultra-light gyroplane” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) “had an accident while conducting combat operations” in a border area, according to the IRNA news agency.

The crash occurred in Sirkan, a city in Sistan-Baluchistan province, and the deceased were identified as General Hamid Mazandarani, commander of the Nineveh Brigade of Golestan province, and pilot Hamed Jandaghi, who served in the IRGC ground forces.

Iran’s armed forces have been conducting operations in the region since October 26, when an attack by Sunni Muslim militants resulted in the deaths of 10 police officers.

According to Iranian media outlets, several militants have been killed and others arrested during the operation.

Sistan-Baluchistan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of the most impoverished provinces in Iran.

The province is home to a significant population of the Baluch minority, an ethnic group found across Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, who practice Sunni Islam, contrasting with the country’s predominantly Shiite population.

The province has seen repeated clashes between Iranian security forces and rebels from the Baluch minority, as well as radical Sunni groups and drug traffickers.

Helicopter accidents are uncommon in Iran; however, former president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a crash when his helicopter hit a mountainside in May, prompting snap elections in the country. The ultra-conservative president was accompanied by then-foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others, all of whom perished in the incident.