Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), the country’s parallel military force, says it broke up an armed cell in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan and recovered a Starlink satellite internet terminal from the group’s hideout. The operation took place in highlands west of Rask County, near the border with Pakistan, and was announced in a statement issued on Friday by the Quds Base of the IRGC Ground Force, according to AhlulBayt News Agency, which reported it on 3 October 2026.
Key facts
- Two members of the cell were killed and a manhunt is under way for the rest, the Quds Base said in the statement reported by AhlulBayt News Agency.
- A Starlink satellite internet terminal was recovered along with weapons and munitions, the same statement said.
- The agency says the cell was detected, besieged and broken up in highlands west of Rask County, in a province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- A day earlier, the IRGC Ground Force dismantled a separate team in the same province, killing six members and seizing explosive devices after a tip-off from local residents, according to the same report.
- In a separate statement also issued on Friday, the Quds Base said an IRGC serviceman was killed by a roadside bomb planted on a transit route in the province.
Why it matters
Starlink, the low-Earth-orbit broadband service operated by SpaceX, is not licensed in Iran, and Iranian officials have repeatedly made the hardware itself a political issue. In the past week alone, Tehran has warned that Starlink infrastructure could be treated as a military target and summoned Norway’s envoy over what it called unauthorized Starlink activity. The Quds Base statement now places a terminal inside a security operation rather than a connectivity debate.
For readers tracking where terminals can legally be switched on, the detail matters because it is the state itself describing the equipment as recovered contraband. The sources do not say the terminal was operational, who supplied it, or how long it had been in the country.
What the IRGC statement said
According to AhlulBayt News Agency, the Quds Base said members of the cell were wanted over several attacks. These included the recent assassination of Abdulraouf Es’haqi, whom the agency describes as a Sunni Baluch member of the IRGC, and an attack on a security checkpoint in Rask County. The agency also reports the statement said the cell had planned to assassinate local members of Iran’s Basij volunteer force in the days ahead.
The statement used blunt language about further operations. “Tampering with the security of dear residents of Sistan and Baluchestan Province constitutes a red line,” the Quds Base said, in the wording published by AhlulBayt News Agency, adding that cells are kept under constant surveillance and will be targeted at the proper time.
The agency describes the group as a “Takfiri terrorist cell” and says terrorist groups operating in southeastern and southwestern Iran have been reported to have links to a number of governments in the Persian Gulf region. It does not identify any by name.
A separate operation, a month earlier
The second available report describes a different operation in the same province. Mehr News Agency, reporting from Tehran in early September 2026, said Iranian security forces dismantled a cell in a joint operation involving the Intelligence Ministry, the IRGC Intelligence Organization in the province and the provincial Law Enforcement Command, known as FARAJA.
Mehr reported that the Quds Base announced the operation on a Saturday, that it followed intelligence monitoring, and that two members of the team were killed. The group had been planning attacks on predetermined targets in the province, the agency said, and the Quds Base described it as affiliated with the “Zionist regime” and the “terrorist US regime.”
The two accounts differ in an important way. The Mehr report makes no mention of a Starlink terminal or any satellite equipment, and it describes a different set of agencies and a different date from the October operation reported by AhlulBayt News Agency. Only the October account ties Starlink hardware to a seizure.
What is not established
Both outlets are Iranian state-aligned agencies relaying statements from the IRGC Ground Force’s Quds Base. Neither report cites independent verification of the seizure, the identities of those killed, or the claimed foreign sponsorship. SpaceX is not quoted in either report, and neither source references any comment from the company about terminals in Iran.
No pricing, licensing or availability change for Starlink in Iran is described in either report. Readers in Zimbabwe and elsewhere on the continent weighing where terminals are permitted will find nothing in these sources that touches African markets; our separate coverage looks at how African regulators are handling Starlink.
The Quds Base said Iranian security forces will continue to detect and pursue militant elements in the province, according to both agencies. Whether further terminals are reported in future operations is not addressed in either source.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the IRGC say where the Starlink terminal came from or who supplied it?
No. The Quds Base statement carried by AhlulBayt News Agency listed the Starlink satellite internet terminal among items recovered from the hideout, alongside weapons and munitions, but gave no account of how it was obtained, when it arrived or whether it was in use. Neither source published photographs or serial details.
Who was Abdulraouf Es’haqi?
AhlulBayt News Agency describes Abdulraouf Es’haqi as a Sunni Baluch member of the IRGC. The agency reports that members of the dismantled cell were wanted over his recent assassination, among several other attacks.
Does the Mehr News report mention Starlink?
No. The Mehr News account of the earlier joint operation in Sistan and Baluchestan describes two members killed and planned attacks on predetermined targets, but makes no reference to a Starlink terminal or to any satellite equipment.
Where is Rask County?
Rask County lies in Sistan and Baluchestan Province in southeastern Iran. AhlulBayt News Agency says the province borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that the operation took place in highlands to the west of the county.
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