Iranian Revolutionary Guards during a parade in September 2018. (Credit: AFP archive photo)
Ten security members were killed in two attacks claimed by jihadists in Iran's restive southeast, state television reported Thursday, updating an earlier toll of five.
"The case of the terrorist attacks was closed with the martyrdom of 10 members of the security forces," and the killing of 18 "terrorists," state television said.
The attacks occurred in Sistan-Baluchistan province which has for years faced unrest involving drug-smuggling gangs, rebels from the Baluchi minority, and Sunni Muslim extremists.
Majid Mirahmadi, vice-minister of the interior, said more than 10 security force members were hurt during the clashes that began Wednesday evening.
The Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice in Arabic), claimed the attacks on its Telegram channel.
Based in Pakistan, the Sunni Muslim rebel organization, formed in 2012, is listed as a "terrorist" group by Iran and also by the United States.
Jaish al-Adl claimed an attack in December that killed 11 officers, one of the deadliest attacks in years, at a police station in Sistan-Baluchistan's city of Rask.
The group claimed another police station attack in Rask that killed one officer on Jan. 10.
A week later, Iran said it retaliated with missiles and drones against Jaish al-Adl over the border in Pakistan. Pakistan then said it carried out air strikes against ethnic separatists inside Iran.
The rare cross-border fire added to regional tensions during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, but by late January the two countries sought to ease tensions.
Impoverished Sistan-Baluchistan province, which also borders Afghanistan, is one of the few mainly Sunni provinces in Shiite-dominated Iran.