The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said six armed men were killed in a clash near Iran's northwestern border on Tuesday. The announcement came hours after the Guards said two of its members were killed in a separate shooting in the region.
The IRGC Ground Forces said the six-member team was engaged in the mountains between Mahabad and Piranshahr after entering Iran's northwestern border region.
“The team entered the country's northwestern border region with the aim of carrying out sabotage and terrorist operations,” the IRGC's Hamzeh Seyed al-Shohada base said.
The Guards said four bodies, along with weapons and military equipment, were recovered after the clash, which it said involved fire support.
Two IRGC members killed in Paveh
Earlier on Tuesday, the IRGC's Kermanshah provincial public relations office said two local Guards members were killed and two others wounded after gunmen opened fire outside a home in Paveh county on Monday evening.
The dead were identified as Khaled Khaledinia and Borhan Krisani. Authorities said they were investigating the shooting and working to identify those responsible.
The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw identified the two wounded men as Kamel Shabrang, also known as Kamel Hajiji, and Kamal Abdi, adding that Hajiji was in a coma because of his injuries.
Hengaw also said a newly formed group calling itself Khori Hiva, meaning "Sun of Hope" in Kurdish, had claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Khaledinia participated in the crackdown on protesters in Javanrud during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests.
Conflicting accounts emerged over whether civilians were also killed. Hardline outlet Raja News reported that Khaledinia's sister and niece died in the attack, but Paveh governor Farzad Almasi rejected that account, telling ISNA that all four people targeted were men serving with the local IRGC unit, with two killed and two wounded.
Almasi said two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire before fleeing the scene and that efforts to identify and arrest the attackers were continuing.
The separate attacks underscored continuing security challenges in Iran's Kurdish-populated western and northwestern regions, where clashes between Iranian security forces and armed Kurdish groups have continued intermittently.
