A police officer has been assassinated in a terrorist attack in Saravan county, Sistan and Baluchestan province, by mercenaries linked to the United States and the Israeli regime.

The attack was carried out by elements of a terrorist group acting as proxies for Washington and Tel Aviv, Tasnim News Agency reported.

The assailants targeted the officer as he was leaving his home, opening fire and fatally shooting him.

The Iranian police command confirmed the incident via its news portal, stating that the officer fell victim to a "blind terrorist act" orchestrated by US and Israeli mercenaries.

The Information Center of the Sistan and Baluchestan Police identified the martyr as Third Lieutenant Hojjat Vafakaradeh.

Security and law enforcement forces have immediately launched an extensive manhunt to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the heinous crime.

Authorities said they would release more details about the operation and arrests in due course.

IRGC foils terrorist plot against security forces in Sistan and Baluchestan

The IRGC says it has thwarted a terrorist plot against security forces in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

The assassination comes amid heightened security operations and a series of counter-terrorism sweeps in southeastern Iran against armed groups seeking to destabilize the region.

Just a day before Lieutenant Vafakaradeh was assassinated, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) announced it had thwarted a separate terrorist plot targeting security forces in Sistan and Baluchestan.

According to a statement by the Public Relations Office of the IRGC Ground Force’s Quds Headquarters, intelligence units intercepted a terrorist cell in an ambush before it could execute its planned attacks.

The foiled plot followed a vow by a senior security official who told Tasnim that Iranian forces were preparing to deliver the "final blow" to terrorist teams operating in the area, promising that the presence and infrastructure of these groups would soon be completely dismantled in the province.

Sistan and Baluchestan, which shares a lengthy and rugged border with Pakistan and Afghanistan, has witnessed many terrorist attacks targeting civilians and security forces in recent years.

Iranian authorities say hostile spy agencies—specifically the US CIA and the Israeli regime's Mossad—are funding, arming, and directing these terrorist and separatist terrorists to exploit the terrain and undermine the country's security and territorial integrity.