LONDON, United Kingdom - Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) says it has killed 100 militants and arrested 150 others in a series of operations in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province over the past six months.

"The operations targeted terrorists involved in recent cross-border attacks and sabotage activities in the region," declared IRGC Ground Force Commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Pakpour during a memorial ceremony in the border town of Rask on Thursday, according to the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency.

The IRGC launched the operation back in October in response to a skirmish by militants on a police station that left 10 officers dead. The Sunni insurgent group, Jaish al-Adl, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, has for decades been a hotbed of militancy. The area is home to the Sunni Baluch minority, largely sidelined and discriminated against by the ruling Shiite theocracy in Tehran.

Pakpour added that 18 individuals involved in the recent violence were identified as foreign-backed militants who had smuggled weapons into the region disguised as fuel traders. The captured suspects, according to the commander, have "confessed" to links with hostile groups operating from abroad.

Tehran has persistently accused Israel, the US, and some regional countries—including Saudi Arabia—of training, funding, and arming the Sunni militants, a charge those countries deny.

Elsewhere in his speech, the general stated that the IRGC has mobilized 11,000 locals in liaison with tribal leaders and clerics to stabilize the region.

Pakpour warned Baluch communities against providing shelter to "unidentified" individuals or cooperating with "foreign-linked elements." He accused exiled dissidents of guiding some of the militant cells and urged the ethnic population to stay vigilant.