Execution of 25 People in Two Weeks Part of Iran’s Systematic Baloch Genocide: FBM

LONDON – The Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) has said Iran is conducting a systematic campaign of genocide against the Baloch people, following the execution of more than 25 individuals over the past two weeks in politically motivated and legally flawed trials.

In a strongly worded press release issued on Tuesday, an FBM spokesperson stated that all of those executed were from Iranian-occupied Balochistan and had been falsely charged with drug trafficking and other fabricated crimes. According to FBM, the executions were carried out without fair trials, adequate legal representation, or due judicial process.

“This mass execution of innocent Baloch under trumped-up charges is part of a long-standing strategy of Baloch genocide that has been ongoing since Iran’s occupation of Balochistan in 1928,” the statement read.

The FBM also criticised Iran’s “dual-purpose strategy,” saying that Tehran is using the global war on drugs as a pretext to persecute the Baloch population. “Iran is attempting to portray itself as tough on drug trafficking, while at the same time using these accusations to suppress and eliminate Baloch political dissent,” the spokesperson said.

According to the FBM, both Iran and Pakistan are collaborating to crush the Baloch freedom movement. The group said that the military and intelligence agencies of both countries — including Pakistan’s Army and ISI, and Iran’s Quds Force — are complicit in facilitating drug trafficking routes that stretch from Central Asia to Europe. The FBM added that these state actors collect bribes from international traffickers while scapegoating Baloch civilians, activists, and political opponents for crimes related to drug smuggling.

“Ordinary Baloch citizens and political activists are being arrested, denied fair trials, and sentenced to death in so-called ‘execution courts’ simply for their political beliefs or affiliations,” the statement added.

The FBM concluded its statement with a call to the international community, urging global institutions and human rights organisations to conduct independent fact-finding missions in Balochistan. “The world must look beyond the narratives advanced by the occupying states of Iran and Pakistan,” the group said. “Only through independent investigation can the scale of atrocities being committed in the name of counter-terrorism and drug control be truly understood.”