TEHRAN -- Iran’s Intelligence Ministry announced Monday that its forces have dismantled four terrorist cells in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, arresting 19 militants linked to takfiri groups operating under the aegis of the United States and Israel. Five additional terrorists were eliminated.
The ministry stated that intelligence forces discovered caches of weapons and explosive devices at the militants’ hideouts. One law enforcement officer was martyred during the operations.
In a separate operation in Damghan county in Semnan province, a three-member takfiri cell planning an attack deep inside Iran was smashed. More than 20 explosive devices intended for a series of terror attacks were seized from a hideout in Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan and Baluchestan.
Two terrorists who had received bomb-making training in a neighboring country and crossed the border to carry out attacks were also apprehended. 
A high-profile militant identified as Iraj Bameri was eliminated, and three others arrested, with a significant amount of weapons confiscated.
Three additional takfiri cells affiliated with “the American-Zionist enemy” were busted, resulting in 11 arrests. The ministry said the captured militants were tasked with bombings, assassinations, and destabilizing southern districts, as well as gathering intelligence on critical infrastructure at Chabahar Port.
Several of the arrested militants are foreign nationals who entered Iran during the recent U.S.-Israeli war of aggression. 
In a separate incident in Saravan, four militants attempting to cross the border were eliminated. One terrorist detonated an explosive vest, martyring a law enforcement officer and injuring another.