Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran

Tehran, Sep 24: A senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed during clashes with armed men in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran, Iranian media reported.

Brigadier General Hossein Zarifi, commander of the IRGC's Shahid Sajjad Operational Base in Saravan, was killed during an operation in the Jihadabad area near Iran's border with Pakistan, according to a statement from the IRGC Ground Forces' Quds Regional Headquarters carried by Tasnim news agency.

Iranian authorities said a joint force comprising the IRGC, Intelligence Ministry and police raided a location where an armed cell was allegedly operating. Authorities claimed the group was planning an attack and had been identified through intelligence inputs.

Five members of the armed group were reportedly killed and others arrested during the exchange of fire, while weapons and ammunition were also seized. The identity and affiliation of the gunmen remained unclear, and the reported casualty figures could not be independently verified.

The IRGC said Zarifi was killed while participating in the operation alongside his forces. It praised him for serving on the front lines and said his death would not affect its operations to protect Iran's borders.

Zarifi had served for more than a decade in Sistan and Baluchestan. His funeral is scheduled to be held in Saravan on Friday, according to the IRGC statement.

The latest clash comes less than two weeks after another security operation in Saravan. On September 12, Iranian authorities said four alleged militants and three intelligence and security personnel were killed during an operation targeting an armed cell.

Sistan and Baluchestan, which borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, has witnessed repeated clashes between Iranian security forces and armed groups.