Iran's Ministry of Intelligence has announced the arrest of 14 individuals who identified themselves as members of the Khorasan Province branch of the Islamic State group (banned in Russia).
The arrests were made by general intelligence departments in the provinces of Tehran, Alborz, Fars, and Khuzestan. The operations were conducted in coordination with the country's intelligence community, and the detainees were apprehended by court order, according to a statement from the Iranian intelligence agency, as quoted by IRIB TV channel.
The agency reported that the detainees had “illegally entered the country over the past few days and intended to carry out terrorist attacks.” Half of the militants were captured in Fars province, located in the southern part of the country.
This follows an earlier announcement on July 24 by Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, who stated that his officers had apprehended two Islamic State ringleaders along with 10 other terrorists.
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Photo: Master Sgt. Christopher DeWitt/Creative Commons 2.0
Based on materials from TASS