UPDATE - Hostage taken in SE Iran after attacks on security forces, says Iranian official

UPDATES WITH STATEMENT OF IRANIAN DEPUTY INTERIOR MINISTER, CHANGES HEADER, DECK, EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Syed Zafar Mahdi and Riyaz ul Khaliq

TEHRAN, Iran / ISTANBUL, Türkiye (AA) — Iranian officials said Thursday that the country's security forces were responding to a hostage situation after multiple attacks by terrorists in its southeast.

Majid Mirahmadi, Iran's deputy interior minister for security and police affairs, said "terrorists" had taken hostage a resident of the city of Chabahar, located in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan, state-run news agency IRNA reported.

Mirahmadi said security forces in the restive province were engaged in an operation to rescue the hostage "with full caution."

The hostage situation comes after at least three simultaneous attacks were launched late Wednesday targeting military bases and police stations in the city of Rask and Chabahar, including the headquarters of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Two police officers, a soldier, a security guard, and a member of the paramilitary Basij force, were killed during the anti-terror operations, reported IRNA.

It said five insurgents associated were killed in the "exchange of fire," adding that clashes continue in the Sarbaz, Rask, and Chabahar areas.

Quoting unnamed sources, the report said they were affiliated Jaish al-Adl, a militant group based in the border region between Iran and Pakistan.

Noting that the militants were "completely surrounded by security forces," it said at least four were "under siege" in Chabahar.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​