Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps kills two and arrest more than 50 suspected Mossad affiliates

Operations were conducted over the past two weeks in Sistan and Baluchestan province

A funeral ceremony for Iranian IRGC generals and scientists who were killed in recent Israeli air strikes, held in Tehran, in June. EPA

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed two people and arrested more than 50 suspected "terrorists and mercenaries" it accused of collaborating with Israel's Mossad, Iranian media reported.

The IRGC said on Tuesday that the operations had taken place over the past two weeks in the Sistan and Baluchestan province in the south-east of the country.

Iran suffered significant blows to its nuclear programme during the war and Israel boasted about its use of Mossad agents on the ground to carry out covert operations. Since then, Tehran has announced several executions related to spying for Israel.

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Tehran has put to death many people convicted of having links with Mossad and enabling its operations. Iran has long accused Israeli intelligence of carrying out sabotage operations against its nuclear sites and assassinating its scientists.

Security troops have intensified their crackdown on people suspected to have collaborated with Israel and its spy agency since the 12-day war with Israel, despite a ceasefire in place.

"Significant amounts of weapons and ammunition, including American weapons, have been discovered and confiscated from these individuals," semi-official Tasnim news agency said.

However, even before the war, incidents between security forces or IRGC with local armed groups in Sistan and Baluchestan are frequent. Armed Baluch groups, particularly Jaish Al Adl, operate in the province that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan. The armed groups have been waging an insurgency against the authorities in Iran for years and have carried out several attacks against regime forces.

Baluchs are a predominantly Sunni ethnic minority in Iran and were active in the nationwide protests in 2022. Hundreds were killed in the heavy IRGC crackdown that came afterwards.