Terrorists involved in ballot box attacks arrested in southeast Iran

TEHRAN – Iranian intelligence has arrested eight people responsible for an attack on ballot boxes on June 28 in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, the province’s intelligence agency said.

Two soldiers were killed and several others injured in the attack, which targeted a vehicle carrying ballot boxes in the rural Jakigoor district of Rask county during the first round of the recent Iranian presidential elections.

“In response to the heinous act, the intelligence services quickly launched a thorough investigation to identify and neutralize the perpetrators both in the country and abroad,” the Sistan and Baluchestan Department of the intelligence service said in a statement.

“After a series of meticulous operations in various locations and terrorist hideouts in the province, a decisive final phase culminated in the arrest of all eight members of the terrorist cell, including both operational and support personnel. In addition, during the operation, the authorities discovered weapons caches, grenades, handheld radios and significant quantities of explosives,” the statement said. The terrorists were arrested on July 5 at around 4 a.m. local time (0030 GMT), a few hours before the start of the second round of the presidential election.

The statement also revealed that the captured terrorists were being directed from a neighboring country. “They were preparing to carry out large-scale terrorist attacks in the days following the Iranian presidential elections.”

While intelligence agencies did not specify which country the terrorists received their instructions from, analysts point out that the blame lies with terrorist organizations based in Pakistan, which have attacked people in southeastern Iran on several occasions in the past.

Tehran is stepping up its cooperation with Islamabad to resolve security problems posed by terrorists in Pakistan. In addition, the country has begun building a barrier along its eastern border.