Four members of Iran's security forces were murdered in a "terrorist" attack on Monday, according to the state news agency IRNA.


It claimed that the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps died "during a terrorist incident" in the province of Sistan-Saravan Baluchistan's area close to the Pakistani border, AFP reported.


The Baluchi minority, who practise Sunni Islam rather than the Shiite branch that predominates in Iran, reside in one of the poorest regions in the country.


Without providing further details on the attackers, IRNA stated: "The powerful presence of the security forces pushed elements of the group to flee towards Pakistan."


The region has historically seen conflicts with drug trafficking gangs, Baluchi rebels, and Sunni extremist organisations.


Since Mahsa Amini died on September 16 while being held by the morality police in the capital city of Tehran, demonstrators in Sistan-Baluchistan have joined the countrywide anti-regime demonstrations.


Earlier this month, Iran had arrested the lawyer of two female journalists who were detained after reporting the death of a woman in custody, that triggered three months of protests, news agency AFP reported.


"Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi, the lawyer for several activists and journalists, has been arrested," a report by Ham Mihan newspaper said.


According to the report, with this arrest, the total number of lawyers detained in connection with the protests rose to 25.


It is to be noted that Kamfirouzi's clients Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi were the two female journalists who were arrested after covering Amini's death and its aftermath.


The two journalists were charged on November 8 with propaganda against the state and conspiring against national security, which are considered to be capital crimes under the sharia law in force in Iran.


Iran on December 3 said that more than 200 people, including dozens of security personnel, have been killed in the protests, which the government describes as "riots".


In an updated toll on Saturday, a Norway-based group, Iran Human Rights, said Iran's security forces had killed at least 469 people in the protests.


Thousands of people have been arrested since the protests started, eleven have been sentenced to death and two have already been executed, according to the AFP report.


(With Inputs From AFP)