2018 Chabahar Suicide Bombing

On 6 December 2018, a suicide car bombing occurred near a Law Enforcement Police station in Chabahar city, in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan Province. A suicide bomber drove a pickup truck loaded with explosives toward the police station. Police officers attempted to block the vehicle and opened fire on the driver, who then detonated the explosives near the station. According to France 24, gunmen also attempted to assault the Police Headquarters immediately after the car bomb detonated, but were killed by Iranian security forces.

The attack killed at least two policemen and injured 48 others, among them women and children. Of the injured, 10 were military personnel and 32 were civilians. Of the civilian injured, 28 were treated as outpatients and discharged from the hospital, while 8 others required surgery.

Iranian media accused the Ansar Al-Furqan group, described as a Sunni jihadi organization, of being behind the attack. Ansar Al-Furqan subsequently took responsibility for the bombing. Suicide bombings of this kind are described as rare in Iran.

In the aftermath, Iran's police chief, Hossein Ashtari, stated that 10 people suspected of having links to the bombing had been detained, and that additional cases were being identified and prosecuted. Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, accused an unnamed foreign power of involvement, stating on Twitter that "Foreign-backed terrorists kill and wound innocents in Chabahar" and that "such crimes won't go unpunished," without naming a specific country. India's Foreign Minister described the attack as a "despicable terrorist attack" and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesman, Mohammad Faisal, also condemned the attack via Twitter.

According to the Tasnim News Agency, the attack was intended to destabilize the area ahead of a meeting of the committee overseeing the Chabahar Agreement.

The attacker who detonated the explosives died in the bombing.