At least two Iranian police officers were killed in a grenade attack on a police station, according to the official news agency iRNA The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) was quoted as saying in a statement on Saturday.
The incident took place in the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeast Iran.
The IRGC said in the statement that all “four terrorists” who attacked the police station in Zahedan had been killed.
The statement said armed attackers threw grenades to enter the police station.
The Iranian security official also denied reports that the incident was a suicide attack.
Ali Reza Marhamati, the province’s deputy governor for security affairs, said the attack began at 07:15 local time (03:45 GMT).
“The security forces managed to bring the situation under control by being present at the site of the attack in time,” the official was quoted as saying.
He further said that the attackers were gunned down even before they could enter the police station.
Sistan-Baluchistan is one of the poorest provinces of Iran which is home to the Baluchi minority.
In May, five Iranian border guards were killed during clashes with an armed group in Saravan, southeast of Zahedan, in one of the province’s deadliest attacks in months.
State media reported at the time that the attack was carried out by “a terrorist group that was trying to infiltrate the country” but whose members “fled the scene after being wounded.”
Zahedan was also the site of protests in September over the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police officer, which left dozens dead.
late May, iRNA Qasim Rezaei, a police officer, was quoted as saying that “Taliban forces” had fired at an Iranian police station in the drought-prone region of Sistan-Baluchistan, which also borders Afghanistan. There has been a debate between the two countries regarding water rights.
Iranian police did not give details of casualties in that incident but local news agency Mehr reported that an Iranian border guard was killed. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban said one person was killed on both sides.
– with additional input from AFP
