Staff of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence conducted an operation detaining 12 terrorists, including two Islamic State leaders and a group of takfiris (Islamic radicals). This was announced by the head of the department, Esmail Khatib.

“During the operation, about 20 illegal immigrants were identified and detained, including two ISIS leaders and the takfiri group,” TASS quoted him as saying. As Khatib noted, at least 12 of these 20 people were agents preparing to carry out terrorist attacks in the country. The two terrorist leaders “had connections with countries not bordering Iran,” the head of the ministry added. The minister did not disclose the identities of the detainees.

On July 13, the ministry published a report covering period from May 21 to July 5, reporting the arrest of one of the main orchestrators of the January 3 terrorist attack in Kerman, which claimed the lives of 95 people. In total, during the covered period, as noted in the document, there were at least 79 direct clashes between employees of the counter-terrorism unit and terrorists, during which dozens of militants were eliminated and 560 weapons and 9 explosive devices were seized.