TEHRAN: Iranian security forces have arrested a person believed to be linked to a suicide bombing that killed a police commander, state media reported Sunday, after the rare attack in Hormozgan province.
The attack took place on Saturday in the southern coastal town of Bandar-i-Lengeh, Iranian media reported.
On Sunday, the separatist group Ansar al-Furqan claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE intelligence group, which cited the Ansar al-Furqan Telegram channel.
The official IRNA news agency reported that “one person was arrested following the deadly terrorist attack.” He did not provide further details, including the identity of the suspect.
IRNA said the suicide bombing also killed the attacker, whose identity “has not yet been precisely identified and investigations are ongoing,” the agency quoted Ehsan Kamarani, deputy governor of the province.
He added that “the evidence shows that he was affiliated with takfiri groups,” terminology used by Iran to describe armed groups.
Ansar al-Furqan in 2018 claimed responsibility for driving a car loaded with explosives into a police station in Chabahar, in the Sistan-Baluchistan province adjacent to Hormozgan. Two officers were killed.
Sistan-Baluchistan, a region long plagued by unrest, saw 10 police officers killed in October in what Iranian media called a “terrorist attack.”
The Pakistan-based Jaish al-Adl group claimed responsibility.
