An Iranian police commander was killed today in an attack on him outside a police station in the coastal city of Bandar-e-Lengeh in Hormozgan province in southern Iran, Tasnim news agency reported.

The agency described the attack as “terrorist”, adding that the attacker, a suicide bomber, was also killed and another police officer was wounded. He gave no further details.

The victim was the head of the local police intelligence service.

So far no organization has claimed responsibility.

Such attacks are rare in this province, which is about 1,000 kilometers from Tehran. In October, 10 policemen were killed in a “terrorist attack” in Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran. The Pakistan-based Sunni jihadist organization Jaish al-Adl (“Army of Justice” in Arabic) then claimed responsibility. In the province of Sistan-Baluchistan, there are frequent clashes between the security forces on the one hand and either insurgents of the Baloch minority, or Sunni radical organizations or drug smugglers on the other.

Today’s attack in Bandar-e-Lengeh comes just days before the anniversary, on January 3, of two suicide attacks that killed nearly 100 people at a memorial service for top Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Iraq in 2020 by an American drone. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the two attacks.