Iran: Four gunmen and two officers killed in attack on police station

Two police officers and four attackers were killed when gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a police station in Iran's restive southeast on Saturday, Iranian state television reported.

The attack occurred in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, where some of the deadliest protests took place last year following the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody after her arrest for "improper wearing" of a headscarf.

"Four unidentified armed individuals attacked and entered police station Number 16 of Zahedan," the capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province, according to state broadcaster IRIB, quoting the province's deputy head of security, Alireza Marhamati. 

The attackers used grenades to blast open the gates of the police station and an exchange of fire occurred, said Marhamati, adding that "one policeman was martyred".

Sistan-Baluchistan, a drought-prone region that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, is one of Iran's poorest provinces and is home to the Baluchi minority, which rights groups say has faced decades of discrimination.

The province is also a major drug trafficking route, and has seen regular clashes involving drug smuggling gangs as well as rebels from the Baluchi minority and Sunni extremist groups.

In May, five Iranian border guards were killed during clashes with an armed group in Saravan city, in one of the deadliest attacks in Sistan-Baluchistan in months. 

State-media reported at the time that "a terrorist group that was seeking to infiltrate the country" carried out the attack.

Meanwhile, weekly protests have been taking place in Zahedan since the killing of dozens of protesters on 30 September 2022, even as the unrest has largely subsided in most parts of the country.

Amnesty International said Iranian forces had opened fire on protesters, bystanders and worshippers after Friday prayers, killing at least 66 people, including children, and wounded hundreds of others.

Authorities fired Zahedan's police commander and a police station chief afterwards and blamed the start of the shooting on Jaish al-Adl, a Baluch militant group that they say operates from safe havens in Pakistan.