TEHRAN — Iran’s security forces swept through five cities in the country’s restive southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province on Saturday, dismantling four armed militant cells that the Intelligence Ministry described as trained abroad and linked to US and Israeli intelligence services.
The operation was conducted jointly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the police in Zahedan, Chabahar, Iranshahr, Khash, and Taftan, Press TV reported, citing the Iranian Intelligence Ministry. Two militants were killed. The number of those detained was not disclosed in the official account.
Sistan and Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is Iran’s most geographically remote province, has seen persistent armed activity and attacks on security forces for years. Saturday’s sweep, covering five cities simultaneously, suggests authorities had monitored the cells across a wide corridor of the province before moving to eliminate them.
The Intelligence Ministry statement, relayed by Fars news agency, said the militants had received military training outside Iran before infiltrating the country to carry out acts of sabotage and terrorism. No group was named in the statement, and the identities of those killed or detained were not disclosed. Iranian opposition media had not independently confirmed the operation as of Saturday evening.
Iran has repeatedly accused Western and Israeli services of financing and training armed networks in the province, a charge both governments deny. Jaish ul-Adl, a Sunni militant organisation that has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks on IRGC personnel in Sistan and Baluchestan, has been designated a terrorist group by Tehran. Whether Saturday’s operation targeted that organisation or a separate network has not been confirmed.
The operation came as Iran and the United States have been engaged in ongoing diplomatic contact reshaping the Middle East, a development Tehran says has not altered its posture against externally backed armed groups. Britain and France this week dispatched mine-clearing ships to the Strait of Hormuz following the US-Iran ceasefire that formally reopened the passage. The IRGC and Intelligence Ministry have not announced further operations, and no international body had commented on the reported arrests as of Saturday night.
