Tehran-based Tasnim news agency quoted informed sources as saying that the Iranian security forces have foiled a plot to foment unrest in Zahedan on the anniversary of a riot in the predominantly Sunni city.
A foreign spy service had been planning, in cooperation with the terrorist Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO), to recreate riots in Zahedan, the sources said.
The elements of the spy service in Iran had reportedly received telecommunication equipment, including Starlink kits, a few days before September 30, the first anniversary of riots in Zahedan.
The Iranian security forces managed to seize the telecom devices and arrest five individuals in connection with the plot.
A number of the arrestees have a criminal record of cooperation with the terrorist and Zionist media outlets, the sources said.
In early September, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said they had delivered a "serious blow" to a network seeking to organize riots across the country.
The security forces could "identify and deal a blow to some members of the riot organization network" on the back of joint intelligence work carried out by the bodies' operatives, their statement said, noting that the network's members were being funded by the United States State Department and led by the Freedom House, a Washington-based so-called political advocacy group, and the Nonviolent Initiative for Democracy, a Massachusetts-based anti-Iran organization.
MNA/TSN2965073