A senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed during an operation in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, according to reports on Wednesday.
The commander was identified as Brigadier General Hossein Zarifi, who headed the Shahid Sajjad operational base in Saravan, near Iran’s border with Pakistan.
No further details were provided about the circumstances surrounding Zarifi’s death or the identity of the group involved in the operation.
Zarifi had served in Sistan-Baluchistan for more than a decade, according to the statement.
Sistan-Baluchistan has long been the scene of deadly clashes between Iranian security forces and armed groups, including Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant organization that has carried out attacks against IRGC and police personnel.
The province borders Pakistan and Afghanistan and is home to a large Sunni Baluch population. It is also considered one of Iran’s poorest and least-developed regions.
