TEHRAN – Iran’s Intelligence Ministry says security forces have dismantled two organized terrorist-takfiri cells in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, arresting four members and killing two others during clashes in the city of Khash.
In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said the two cells affiliated with terrorist-takfiri organizations and linked to U.S.-Israeli intelligence services, were identified as they attempted to enter the country. 
The terrorists were targeted in a series of intelligence operations in Khash before they could carry out any hostile activities.
The statement said the two trained cells had been tasked with carrying out an enemy project aimed at destabilizing Sistan and Baluchestan province and targeting economic infrastructure in the southern part of the province.
The ministry added that intelligence forces also dismantled an organized four-member criminal gang in Zahedan that was planning to kidnap residents and extort their families. The gang members were arrested along with a quantity of weapons and other equipment.
Separately, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) forces arrested another member of a terrorist group in southern Sistan and Baluchestan, whose two members were killed last week. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition, explosive equipment, and communications data-x-items were confiscated from him.
The report said the remaining members of the cell intended to carry out terrorist attacks against pre-selected targets in the southern part of the province.
“The mercenary heads of this terrorist cell, affiliated with the ominous Zionist regime and the