Two IRGC members killed in attack in western Iran

Three other security personnel wounded, state media says

Members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at a parade in Tehran. 'Kurdish terrorists' have been blamed for killing two of their number in western Iran. AFP

Two members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) were killed in an attack in the country's western district of Sarvabad on Tuesday, according to Iranian state media.

Three other security personnel were wounded, reported Tasnim news agency.

The attack on the guards was carried out by “Kurdish terrorists” belonging to “hostile and counter-revolutionary groups” that are foreign-affiliated, it said.

In June, Tehran executed three Kurdish men convicted of aiding Israeli intelligence agency Mossad in the assassination of a nuclear scientist during the 12-day war between the countries.

Israel has boasted about its use of Mossad to carry out covert operations during the war. Since then, Iran has launched an intensified campaign to tackle alleged Israeli espionage and has announced several executions.

Last week, Iran executed six people convicted of attacks in the south-west province of Khuzestan on behalf of Israel, according to state media. Iran said the men killed police officers and security forces, as well as orchestrated bombings targeting sites around Khorramshahr. Iranian state television showed video of one of the men talking about the attacks.

Iranian missiles are displayed at the IRGC Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran. Reuters

Iran also this weekend put to death a Kurdish prisoner who it convicted of killing a Sunni cleric in 2009 in Kurdistan province.

Tehran has previously accused Kurdish groups in Iraq of smuggling weapons to Iran and fuelling nationwide protests that erupted in 2022 after the death of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. She was detained for “improperly” wearing a hijab.

Last year, the IRGC said they attacked what they called the spy headquarters of Israel in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The strike in January came at a time of heightened regional tension due to Israel's war on Gaza, which enters its third year this week.