Iranian security forces captured key members of a foreign-based terrorist group in the Eastern, Western and Southern provinces of Iran.

“After identifying the main members of the terrorist-Takfiri group, 11 of its active members were identified in Fars province, other members of the group were identified in 6 Eastern and Western provinces of the country and 25 individuals were arrested in these provinces during a coordinated operation,” Head of the Judiciary Office in Fars Province Seyed Kazzem Mousavi said on Monday.

He noted that the group had released several video clips on the internet to declare existence and spread horror, adding that a large number of weapons and ammunition have been discovered and seized from the terrorist group and its ringleaders outside the country have also been identified.

“The group intended to carry out simultaneous terrorist operations in several provinces of the country which was plotted with the intelligence and financial cooperation of two intelligence services of the European countries and certain regional states but they were thwarted, thanks to the vigilance of judicial officials,” Mousavi said.

Last week, the Iranian police forces had also dismantled an arms and ammunition trafficking band in the Southwestern province of Khuzestan where a number of protesters and a police officer have been martyred by rioters in the past few days, misusing peaceful rallies to protest at water shortage.

The police were informed of the arrival of a cargo of smuggled weapons and ammunition in Ahvaz city, the capital of Khuzestan province, Commander of Khuzestan province’s Law Enforcement Police General Seyed Mohammad Salehi told reporters on Saturday.

He added that the police forces found the trafficking route of the smugglers on Hamidiyeh-Ahvaz road and arrested a member of the team during an ambush and two others in later operations.

“During a search of the suspects’ car and home, 11 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 7,000 Kalashnikov bullets and 1,500 pistol bullets were discovered,” General Salehi said.

Rioters and armed militants disguised among protestors who have been holding rallies to demand solution of their problems related to water shortage and drought in Iran's Southwestern province of Khuzestan killed a young protestor and a policeman last Tuesday.

It is less than a month that the western regions of Khuzestan have been in a water crisis, and due to the lack of water in the Hur al-Azim wetland, some local people have lost their livestock. A number of young people have been holding mostly peaceful protest rallies in the past few days in certain regions of Khuzestan province. Yet, Separatist and anti-revolutionary groups have been attempting to provoke rallies into rioting by false-flag operations and through a large disinformation campaign.

One factor behind Iran’s water shortages is a sharp drop in rainfall, which has been more than 40% below last year’s levels in recent months, combined with high Summer temperatures. The drought has left Iran’s dams with less water to generate electricity, contributing to blackouts in recent weeks.

People in Khuzestan province rallied to protest shortages of drinking and agricultural water, and the drying up of wetlands and rivers.

Iran’s Judiciary Chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Eje’i issued an order to immediately follow up on resolving the water problem in Khuzestan, and a senior judicial and executive delegation was sent to the Southwestern province to investigate the issue. President Hassan Rouhani also sent the Head of the Crisis Management Organization to Khuzestan at the head of a high-level delegation to settle the problems in the province as soon as possible.

Meantime, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei underlined the necessity for resolving water shortage problems in Khuzestan as fast as possible.