Militants attack police station in southern Iran

Two officers and four attackers killed in Sistan and Baluchestan's main city of Zahedan

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard during a military drill in Sistan and Baluchestan, where forces face frequent attacks by militants. AFP

Two police officers and four militants were killed when gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a police station in Iran's south-east on Saturday, state media reported.

The attack took place in Zahedan, capital of Sistan and Baluchestan province bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, broadcaster Irib said.

“Four unidentified armed individuals attacked and entered police station No 16 of Zahedan,” Irib said, quoting the province's deputy head of security, Alireza Marhamati.

The attackers used grenades to blast open the gates of the police station before opening fire, Mr Marhamati was quoted as saying.

All four attackers were killed, according to a statement from Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard paramilitary.

Security forces in Sistan and Baluchestan, home to the Baloch minority who adhere to Sunni Islam rather than the Shiite branch predominant in Iran, are often the target of attacks by extremist groups.

The area has seen clashes involving drug smuggling gangs as well as rebels from the Baloch minority and Sunni extremist groups.

In May, five Iranian border guards were killed during clashes with an armed group in Saravan, in one of the deadliest attacks in Sistan-Baluchestan in months.

State media reported at the time that the attack was carried out by "a terrorist group that was seeking to infiltrate the country" but whose members "fled the scene after suffering injuries".

In the same month, the state Irna news agency quoted police as saying that Afghan Taliban forces had shot at a police station near the border.

Iranian police did not give details of casualties but local news agency Mehr reported one Iranian border guard had been killed.

The Taliban said one person was killed on each side during an exchange of fire, which took place amid heightened tensions between Iran and Afghanistan over sharing of water from the Helmand river that flows through the parched region.

The province was also the scene of mass protests over the alleged rape of a teenage girl by a police commander late last year.

Scores of people were reported to have been killed when security forces opened fire on protesters on September 30, days after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd, in police custody in Tehran sparked nationwide ant-government protests.