3 Iranian intelligence agents die in operation in southeast, state TV says
Operation reportedly targeted organized crime; area is also where a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaeda often operates
TEHRAN, Iran — Three members of Iran’s intelligence agency were killed during an operation targeting an organized crime group in southeastern Iran, the country’s state TV reported Wednesday.
The report did not provide further details. This is a high casualty toll for the agency, for a single operation that Iran reported.
The southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province has been the scene of occasional clashes between Iranian government forces and militants as well as armed drug smugglers. The province, near the border with Pakistan, is also where a Sunni separatist group affiliated with al-Qaeda and known as Jeish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, operates.
In 2019, a suicide car bombing struck a bus carrying members of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard forces, killing 27 troops. Jeish al-Adl claimed that attack. Iran says the group operates from across the border in Pakistan.
