Zahedan

The township of Zahedan, is the neighborhood of Khorassan province in the north, the province of Kerman in the west, and in the south is within the limits of the townships of Iran Shahr and Khash. To its east are the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The city of Zahedan is the center of the province, and lies at a distance of 1,605 km. from Tehran. Zahedan experiences a tropical type of climate in the south, but to the north it is comparatively moderate. In the early period of the reign of Fathali Shah Qajar, there was a well in the vicinity of Zahedan which was used by highway robbers. But in the year 1315 AH., a subterranean canal (Qanat) was dug by one of the inhabitants which caused the formation of a small village named 'Dozdab'. After the Belgians entered in this area, in order to install a customs office, it gradually developed and thereby its population increased. The name Dozdab was renamed Zahedan in the year 1935, after which it rapidly expanded and became the center of the province.

Zahedan, city in southeastern Iran, located near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the capital of "Sistan & Balochestan" province at altitude of 1,352 m from sea level at a distance of 1,605 km from Tehran.

Lying east of the "Kavir-e Loot" desert, Zahedan used to be called "Dozdab", as it was the meeting place of bandits. "Dozd" means robbers and bandits. "Ab" means water or a place of water. Bandits used to frequent the place for their drinking water.

Zahedan is the main economic center of the region and home to many small- and medium-scale industries. Its main products include cotton textiles, woven and hand-knotted rugs, ceramics, processed foods, livestock feed, processed hides, milled rice, bricks, and reed mats and baskets.

Highways link Zahedan to Tehran and Mashhad in the north, the port of Bandar Chabahar on the Arabian Sea in the south, and the Pakistani city of Quetta in the east. A rail line also runs from Zahedan to Quetta.

Balouch Musicians

Like most Iranian cities, Zahedan has a Friday mosque, "Jame mosque", where many members of the community gather to worship on Friday. It also has a Sunni Mosque, "Makki Mosque", which is the greatest mosque of Sunnites in Iran with stuccos and decorations in Indian architecture method, a Sikh temple, and ruins of an old fortress.

A colorful bazaar, "Rasouli Bazaar", patronized by the local Baluchi tribes can also be found in the city. About 100 km south of Zahedan is an intermittently active volcano, "Taftan", which rises abruptly 4,042 m from the surrounding plain. Although the surrounding area has some ancient sites, Zahedan has developed only in the 20th century. Before being chosen as the provincial administrative center in the 1930s, Zahedan was a small village. Its population reached 17,500 by 1956 and increased more than fivefold to 93,000 by 1976.