Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they killed six 'terrorists' in Zahedan

Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed six members of a "terrorist" group on Thursday 1 October, according to the IRNA state news agency. 1 2 The killings occurred in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is a major drug trafficking route. 1 2 IRNA said security forces had discovered and confiscated explosive packages, but it did not identify the six people killed and gave no further information on the incident. 1 2

Haalvsh, a human rights group that monitors Sistan-Baluchistan, said fighting between military and security forces and armed individuals had started on Thursday morning. 1 2 The region is often hit by clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists, and Tehran accuses some of these groups of ties to foreign powers and cross-border smuggling. 1 2 Separately, Fars news agency, citing the city's administrative office, reported that the sound of an explosion was heard in Zahedan on Wednesday without causing any damage. 1 2

The reports came as Tehran weighs a US response to its latest proposal to revive the collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf and prepares for a possible resumption of large-scale US military attacks, after seven months of conflict that began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran on 28 February. 1 2