“This separatist terrorist group aimed to enter West Azerbaijan Province from Iraq’s Kurdistan Region with the goal of inciting street riots, carrying out assassinations, and generating insecurity,” a statement issued by the intelligence ministry said on Wednesday.
“However, they were identified and dismantled upon entry,” it added.
During the operation, one of the main members of the group was killed, two others were arrested, and their weapons were confiscated, according to the statement.
Iranian security agents have in recent years nabbed several terrorist networks affiliated with the foreign-backed notorious terror group. The militants were involved in making explosives and hand-made bombs and linked to foreigners and planned to carry out counter-security acts and terror operations.
Iran has been the target of terrorist attacks in the past few decades and thousands of its citizens have been martyred by the terrorist groups supported by certain Western states. Iranian officials stress that the country is a victim of terrorism.
Iranian military officials have warned neighboring countries to observe the principle of good neighborliness and not allow destabilizing activities on their soil.
Back in March, a military official declared that the Iranian Border Police forces have thwarted more than 4,000 terrorist operations along the country’s frontiers during the past year.
The Border Police units have prevented many terrorist groups from approaching the country’s frontiers, and a large number of weapons, suicide vests, and remote-controled bombs have been found during the recent months.
Iran has long complained that Iraq’s Kurdistan has become a hotspot for anti-Tehran terror elements.
The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has on countless occasions attacked and demolished terrorist hideouts in the Kurdistan region with artillery fire, missiles and drones.
Following a series of meetings at various levels in both Iran and Iraq, Tehran and Baghdad signed a major security pact in March 2023 under which Baghdad pledged to root out terrorist activities aimed at the Iranian territory from Kurdistan where anti-Iran armed groups have been operating in recent years.
Tehran has repeatedly called on officials in the Central government in Baghdad and Kurdish officials to do more to ensure that the terrorists and their bases are completely relocated from areas near the Iranian border.