At least four road police officers were killed in an attack in the city of Zahedan in Iran’s restive southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province. 

“Today, attackers ambushed a police car and opened fire at the vehicle,” IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported, adding that a judicial order has been issued to arrest the perpetrators. 

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, but the region is a scene of numerous clashes between regime forces and armed groups that the regime describes as bandits and terrorists. 

In recent months, the situation in Sistan-Baluchistan has dramatically worsened. The overall atmosphere in provincial cities have become very tense, especially on Fridays, when residents come out to protest against the regime. Clashes also break out when smugglers try to traffic fuel or other contraband to or from neighboring Pakistan.

There have been reports of numerous attacks on military and government forces in the province in the past and since nationwide protests broke out in September 2022. The provincial capital Zahedan was the scene of a government massacre when around 90 citizens were gunned down during a protests September 30.

Several Baluch groups from the area are fighting an insurgency against the Islamic Republic. The most prominent is Jaish al-Adl, which has often targeted Iran's military, especially the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). 

Earlier in July, an attack on a police station in the Sunni-majority city of Zahedan claimed the life of two policemen.