Zāhedān, city and capital of Sīstān va Balūchestān province, southeastern Iran, near the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is situated about 225 miles (360 km) southeast of Kermān in an arid zone, at an elevation of 4,435 feet (1,352 metres). The population comprises Shiʿi Muslim Persians and Sunni Muslim Balochs. In part due to grievances against the mistreatment of the Balochs by the Iranian government, Zāhedān became a flashpoint of a broader anti-government protest movement that began in 2022. Security forces killed dozens on September 30, 2022, in a massacre that was dubbed as “Bloody Friday.”
Strategically located along routes linking Central Asia and Persian Gulf ports to the south, the city has benefited from regional trade. It has also become an entrepôt for narcotics trafficking and other criminal enterprises across international borders. Roads link it with the Iranian cities of Zābol, Īrānshahr, Chāh Bahār, and Sarārān and with points in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is the terminus of a rail line connecting Iran with Quetta, Pakistan. Construction began in the mid-1990s on a new line to Kermān to link Europe and the Indian subcontinent; its final section was inaugurated in 2009. The city also has an international airport. Zāhedān is one of the less economically developed cities in Iran; local industry produces bricks, milled rice, livestock feed, processed foods, mats and baskets, embroidered articles, and ceramics. Notable historic buildings include a ruined citadel, in the centre of the city, and the Friday Mosque (Masjid-e Jomʿeh). Pop. (2011) 560,725; (2016) 587,730.