Iran’s intelligence units have identified and arrested three of the alleged culprits behind the recent assassination of pro-revolution Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulvahed Rigi in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, according to official reports.

Reports indicated that the cleric was at present at his local mosque on 8 December, before being dragged away by unidentified individuals who forced him into their car, which didn’t have a license plate. His body was discovered on this side of the road in Khash county.

Iranian security forces have disclosed that further information about the case will be revealed soon, given that they are currently determining the other perpetrators involved.

The Sistan and Baluchestan province has been significantly impacted by the nationwide riots instigated by the death of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini in September.

Last week, the Islamic Republic Intelligence Ministry revealed that the national security forces dismantled several terror cells of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK) in the capital of Iran, a militant opposition group designated as a terrorist organization by Tehran.

“The members of this network, under the guidance of anti-revolutionary agents living in Germany and the Netherlands, were intending to carry out subversive action by procuring war weapons and acting against national security,” according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

In the wake of the protests, western-back Kurdish separatist groups from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region (IKR) have also contributed to prolonging Iran’s current insecurity, and have funneled weapons to other opposition groups, contributing to the killing of at least 60 members of Iran’s security forces.

The IRGC has previously warned that the Kurdish separatists belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) retain 3,000 armed militants. In recent months, the IRGC has launched several attacks against IKR despite condemnations from Baghdad.

Iran has warned Iraq several times to secure its shared border and has continuously reiterated that Tehran will never compromise its security under any circumstances.