Iran 'delivers blow' to terrorist network behind deadly Izeh attack

A joint operation by Iranian intelligence forces and a security raid have "delivered a blow" to a terrorist network that was behind a deadly attack in the country's southwest last month.

According to Press TV, in a statement on Tuesday, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' Public Relations Office announced that the "commendable" operation had taken place earlier in the day, featuring agents hailing from the country's various intelligence agencies, including the IRGC's Intelligence Organization and the country's Intelligence Ministry.

The operation took place following "round-the-clock endeavor and rigorous technical-intelligence efforts" that led to identification of the elements of the terror network, the statement added.

The intelligence work was followed up by a raid, during which two of the network's terrorists were killed and two others were arrested in clashes with the Iranian security forces, it noted, saying that the raid had also led to the seizure of weaponry and ammunition.

Seven people, including a child and a woman, lost their lives and 12 more were wounded after two gunmen started shooting at people in the center of the city of Izeh in Khuzestan Province on November 16.

The IRGC statement said the terrorists had received training and support from "foreign-based elements," who had sought to use them towards triggering "riot and insecurity and perpetration of terrorist crimes."

Iran has been the scene of foreign-backed riots over the past weeks.

The rioters have been trying to hijack protests that emerged following the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish descent who died in hospital three days after she collapsed in a police station in Tehran. Amini's death has been proven to have happened as a result of illness, not through any fault of Iranian law enforcement forces.

Large numbers of Iranian civilians and security forces have lost their lives in the riots so far as the Western allies increasingly glorify the violence.

ME