ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian intelligence forces in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province on Tuesday dismantled three operational cells of alleged armed groups across different cities, killing two members and arresting 10 other operatives.
Tehran’s intelligence ministry accused “the armed groups” in the cities of Iranshahr, Sarbaz, Saravan, and Zahedan, of having “received military, bomb-making, and assassination training abroad and entered Iran with the intention of carrying out acts of destruction and creating insecurity,” according to a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
The development comes amid increased clashes between Iranian forces and armed groups in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province in recent weeks, with notable casualties from both sides.
In two different incidents on Monday, two Iranian police officers were killed and another was wounded when gunmen opened fire on a patrol in the same province, while later that day, one person was killed and two others wounded when gunmen opened fire on a vehicle.
On Tuesday, Sistan-Baluchestan police chief Mohammadreza Eshaghi said authorities had seized more than 2,500 “illegal weapons” in the province, without sharing the time period.
“Combating armed crime, confiscating illegal weapons, and enhancing public security are among the province's top law enforcement priorities,” he said.
The province is among Iran’s poorest and least developed provinces, with longstanding economic and infrastructure disparities compared with much of the country.
Jaish al-Adl, among the most prominent armed Baluch groups operating in the area, frames the struggle against Intelligence forces as a fight for greater political, religious and economic rights for Iran’s predominantly Sunni Baluch population. The group has carried out repeated attacks on Iranian security forces.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused armed groups operating in the southeast of receiving foreign backing, including from the United States and Israel.
