TEHRAN -- Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in Sistan and Baluchestan province said on Thursday its forces had dismantled four terrorist takfiri cells affiliated with the American-Zionist enemy, arresting 16 people, in a series of counterterrorism operations that also included the identification of a five-member network in Kerman province and the breakup of a two-man team in the west of the country.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the provincial intelligence directorate said the four cells were identified through public reports, continuous intelligence gathering and operational surveillance. 
It said several of the 16 arrested had entered Iran from abroad, and that “a number of the arrested terrorists were responsible for the martyrdom of security personnel in Iranshahr County.” The suspects were handed over to judicial authorities.
Security forces seized nine Kalashnikov rifles, two American-made M4 rifles and seven handguns, along with corresponding ammunition.
The directorate also reported the capture of three people for gathering and transmitting information about security headquarters and defense facilities in southern Sistan and Baluchestan to an American-Zionist espionage-media network.
The operations follow a series of counterterrorism measures in Sistan and Baluchestan, a southeastern province that has experienced armed attacks targeting security forces and other officials in recent weeks.
Separately, authorities in Kerman province announced the dismantling of a five-member network directed by Israel and linked to several members of the European Parliament. 
Mehdi Bakhshi, the provincial prosecutor in Kerman, said preliminary reports indicated that members of a religious sect were seeking to recruit, train and organize personnel with the aim of overthrowing the Islamic Republic. 
He said the operation followed four months of intelligence work, and that the Intelligence unit of the Islamic