Three members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Ground Force were killed on Wednesday "during a mission to secure the country’s borders" in a southeastern area near Zahedan, Iranian state media said.
The forces were part of the IRGC’s Quds Base unit and were killed during what authorities described as an encounter with armed militant groups near the border in Sistan-Baluchestan province.
State media said pursuit operations were under way, but added that few details had been released so far.
Iran’s southeast, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has long been a focus of unrest and armed violence. The mainly Sunni Baluch region has seen repeated attacks on security forces, courts and government buildings by militant groups.
The incident follows a deadly attack earlier this year on a courthouse in Zahedan in which nine people, including three assailants, were killed, according to state media. Militants opened fire inside the building before shooting at civilians outside.
Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch Sunni militant group, later said it carried out the courthouse attack. The group has staged previous assaults on Iranian security forces and is designated a terrorist organization by both Iran and the United States.
