On 5 January, Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad Ghanbari, the provincial police chief of Sistan and Baluchestan, announced that a terrorist group had been broken up in Zahedan and nine suspected terrorists had been detained, according to IRNA news agency.

According to Ghanbari, all nine members of the terrorist group were apprehended on the evening of 4 January after extensive intelligence gathering and a complex operation. He stressed that while the terrorists were carrying out their operations, police seized six vehicles, some guns, and ammunition.

The police chief emphasized that several members of the terrorist group have carried out a number of armed attacks in recent weeks with the intention of killing police officers who were on patrol.

The terrorist organization openly admitted to its crimes in the countless armed robberies, roadblocks, attempts to compromise national security, training, and interactions with separatist counter-revolutionary networks.

On 6 December, Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced that its security forces were able to dismantle several “operational cells” of the Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MEK) in the provinces of Tehran. The group is a designated terrorist organization by the Iranian government.

According to the statement, authorities arrested ten people linked to “terrorist activities” and several attacks against the administration of the Islamic Republic, including military personnel, and members of the police force, while causing damages to residential buildings.

“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 the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC added that the suspects attempted to obtain weapons illegally and intended to carry out “subversive acts.” The weapons include mortars, grenades, and Molotov cocktails. 

A day prior, the Iranian security authorities arrested several individuals accused of collaborating with the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, executing four, while three others received lengthy prison sentences.