Ministry of Intelligence: We Arrested Members of a Terrorist Team in Piranshahr

The Ministry of Intelligence reported a clash with a 'terrorist team' in Piranshahr on Wednesday and the arrest of its members. According to the ministry, one member of this team was killed. In contrast, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) announced that six members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in this clash. According to ISNA news agency, on Thursday, January 4, the Ministry of Intelligence confirmed the death of three individuals referred to as 'the unknown soldiers of Imam Zaman' and added that 'one of the terrorists' was killed and several others were injured. The Ministry of Intelligence accused this armed group of entering Iran with the mission of 'explosions, creating casualties, and killing innocent people to prolong the recent unrest.' According to the ministry's statement, this team was 'under intelligence surveillance in Piranshahr and during the clash, used a rural woman as a shield and fired at the dispatched agents, resulting in the deaths of three agents.' The statement also mentioned that 'three terrorist groups had previously been identified and arrested in western Iran.' Earlier, according to Mehr news agency, the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Headquarters, affiliated with the IRGC Ground Forces, issued a statement on Wednesday night, January 4, which did not mention details of the clash in Piranshahr and the deaths of 'three unknown soldiers of Imam Zaman,' stating that units of this military force were pursuing the main elements responsible for their deaths. Piranshahr is located in the Kurdish region of West Azerbaijan province, which is monitored by the Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Headquarters. The IRGC has declared the purpose of establishing this headquarters as countering 'anti-revolutionary forces and infiltrators in the west and northwest of the country.' Meanwhile, the 'Kurdistan Media' website, belonging to the PDKI, reported that the Peshmerga of this party killed six members of the IRGC in a clash. According to this report, the clash occurred when Iranian Islamic Republic forces attacked the village of 'Ziva' in Piranshahr on Wednesday afternoon. Following the resistance of the Peshmerga of the PDKI, six members of the Islamic Republic forces, referred to by the 'Kurdistan Media' website as 'regime mercenaries,' were killed, and many others were injured. The northwestern and western border areas of Iran have witnessed multiple clashes between militia groups and the police and IRGC in recent years. The Hamzeh Seyyed al-Shohada Headquarters of the IRGC reported several of these clashes this summer, including one in late July where they stated that three members of a group they labeled as 'terrorist' and an IRGC captain were killed. In November of this year, officials in West Azerbaijan province reported clashes between Iranian border forces and an armed opposition group in the Chaldoran border area, during which eight members of the Iranian border guard were killed. The Islamic Republic refers to its armed opposition groups in the western provinces of Iran, including Kurdish armed parties, as 'terrorist groups.' However, these groups claim that the purpose of their armed conflict with the Islamic Republic is to 'defend the rights of Kurds.'