Iran Revolutionary Guards Say They Kill 6 ‘Bandits’ in Restive Area

An Iranian guard tower along the Afghan border. (AFP)
An Iranian guard tower along the Afghan border. (AFP)
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Iran Revolutionary Guards Say They Kill 6 ‘Bandits’ in Restive Area

An Iranian guard tower along the Afghan border. (AFP)
An Iranian guard tower along the Afghan border. (AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards killed six "armed bandits" in the country's southeast on Saturday, the force said on its website, in a second day of clashes in an impoverished and often restive region.

Three local members of the volunteer Basij militia fighting alongside the Revolutionary Guards were killed in the clashes, the statement said.

The Sistan-Baluchistan province near the Pakistani and Afghan borders has long been plagued by unrest from both drug smuggling gangs and extremist militants fighting the country's authorities.

On Friday, Revolutionary Guards shot dead three men believed to have been involved in the killing of two Guards on December 25, according to Iranian media.



Kremlin Says Russia is Doing All it Can to Try to De-Escalate Middle East Tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Kremlin Says Russia is Doing All it Can to Try to De-Escalate Middle East Tensions

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Pavel Byrkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was doing everything it could to try to facilitate attempts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East by urging restraint on all sides.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov made the comments when asked about the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Iran, Reuters said.
"Russia is maintaining contacts with all parties to this conflict. We have contacts with Tehran, and we have contacts with the Israelis and the Palestinians," Peskov told reporters.
"Russia is constantly doing everything possible to call on the parties to show restraint and to facilitate any attempts to de-escalate tensions.
"...There is still an extremely tense situation in the region and, of course, it is very important now to promote restraint in this regard."