19 killed, together with 3 elite Guard members, in Iran assault

An assault by armed separatists on a police station in a southeastern metropolis killed 19 individuals, together with three members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s state-run IRNA information company reported on Saturday.

The assailants in Friday’s assault hid amongst worshippers close to a mosque within the metropolis of Zahedan and attacked the close by police station, in response to the report.

IRNA quoted Hossein Modaresi, the provincial governor, as saying 19 individuals have been killed. The outlet mentioned 32 Guard members, together with volunteer Basiji forces, have been additionally wounded within the clashes.

It was not instantly clear if the assault was associated to nationwide antigovernment protests gripping Iran after the demise in police custody of a younger Iranian girl.

Sistan and Baluchestan province borders Afghanistan and Pakistan and has seen earlier assaults on safety forces by ethnic Baluchi separatists, though Saturday’s Tasnim report didn’t establish a separatist group allegedly concerned within the assault.

IRNA on Saturday recognized the lifeless as Hamidreza Hashemi, a Revolutionary Guard colonel; Mohammad Amin Azarshokr, a Guard member; and Mohamad Amin Arefi, a Basiji, or volunteer drive with the IRG.

Tasnim and different state-linked Iranian information retailers reported on Friday that the pinnacle of the Guard’s intelligence division, Seyyed Ali Mousavi, was shot throughout the assault and later died.

It just isn’t uncommon for IRG members to be current at police bases across the nation.

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the past two weeks to protest the demise of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old girl who had been detained by the morality police within the capital of Tehran for allegedly sporting her obligatory Islamic scarf too loosely.

The protesters have vented their anger over the remedy of ladies and wider repression within the Islamic Republic. The nationwide demonstrations quickly escalated into requires the overthrow of the clerical institution that has dominated Iran since its 1979 Islamic revolution.

The protests have drawn supporters from numerous ethnic teams, together with Kurdish opposition actions within the northwest that function alongside the border with neighbouring Iraq. Amini was an Iranian Kurd and the protests first erupted in Kurdish areas.

Iranian state TV has reported that at the least 41 protesters and police have been killed because the demonstrations started September 17.

An Associated Press rely of official statements by authorities tallied at the least 14 lifeless, with greater than 1,500 demonstrators arrested.

It has been tough to gauge the extent of the protests, significantly exterior of Tehran. Iranian media have solely sporadically coated the demonstrations.

Witnesses mentioned scattered protests involving dozens of demonstrators happened Saturday round a college in downtown Tehran. Anti-riot police dispersed the protesters who chanted “death to dictator.”