Six Iranian border guards were killed in a clash near the Pakistani border with unidentified assailants, according to a state TV report on Sunday. The incident took place in Saravan, a town in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, approximately 850 miles southeast of Tehran. It was reported that the attackers fled the scene with casualties, although details were not given.
In addition to the fatalities, two border guards sustained injuries. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, nor was any group implicated by state TV. The area, which is one of Iran’s least developed, has a history of tense relations between the Shiite-dominated government and the predominantly Sunni residents.
The incident came just days after Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi inaugurated the first border market under a 2012 agreement, signifying warming relations between the two countries. They also launched an electricity transmission line to supply power from Iran to remote parts of Pakistan.