Iran says Arab separatists have killed 2 police

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran says Arab separatists have killed two policemen who were on patrol in the country’s oil-rich south.

The semi-official Fars news agency quoted police official Ali Ghasempour on Sunday as saying the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz, a “terrorist and separatist group,” was behind the killings.

The two policemen were shot dead early Saturday in the southern Khuzestan province.

Arab separatists claimed responsibility for an attack on a military parade in September that killed at least 24 people. The Islamic State group also claimed that attack.

The separatists, who have also struck oil pipelines, accuse Iran’s Persian-dominated government of discriminating against its ethnic Arab minority. Khuzestan province also has seen recent protests over Iran’s nationwide drought, as well as economic protests.