Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said on April 24 that they had dismantled a “terrorist” cell linked to the Islamic republic’s enemies and killed three of its members in the country’s southeast.

The IRGC mounted a “successful operation” in Iran’s southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan Province and ambushed the “terrorist cell linked to the global arrogance,” an IRGC statement published on Iranian news sites, said.

RFE/RL could not independently verify the claim.

Iran generally uses the term “global arrogance” to refer to the United States or its allies.

“Three of the terrorists were killed and their weapons, ammunition and communications equipment were seized,” the statement added.

The IRGC said the group had “entered the area some time ago for sabotage and terrorist operations,” without providing further details or evidence.

Sistan-Baluchistan, one of Iran’s poorest provinces, is a volatile area near Iran’s borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan where drug smugglers and militant groups operate.

With reporting by AFP and Tasnim