Iran Revolutionary Guard general survives as gunmen kill his bodyguard

The area, neighbouring both Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been the scene of occasional clashes between Baluch militants and Iranian forces.

Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying a general of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Saturday morning, killing a bodyguard, state media reported.

An Iranian flag is pictured near in a missile during a military drill, (REUTERS, for representation)

The report said Gen. Hossein Almasi survived the ambush — in Zahedan city of the southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan Province — without any injury. It identified the fallen bodyguard as Mahmoud Absalan.

Authorities have arrested some suspects but did not identify them, the report added.

The area, neighbouring both Pakistan and Afghanistan, has been the scene of occasional clashes between Baluch militants and Iranian forces.

Security forces have also clashed with drug traffickers in the province, which is on a major smuggling route for Afghan opium and heroin.

In January three Guard members and five bandits were killed in a clash in the province, a month after the Guard killed a gunman who had attacked its rural intelligence office.