"A group linked to PJAK was dismantled by the forces of the intelligence ministry... and 11 active members have been arrested and handed over to the judiciary," said the intelligence ministry, quoted by the agency.

It said the rebel cell had been behind several bomb attacks and had set alight and attacked a police station in the provincial capital Sanandaj.

Iran's Kordestan, Kermanshah and West Azarbaijan provinces, which border northern Iraq, have substantial Kurdish populations.

Kurdish rebel group PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan), which is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighting the Turkish army, has been behind a string of deadly attacks in northwestern Iran in recent months.

Iran has repeatedly accused the United States of seeking to stir up ethnic unrest by giving material support to PJAK and outlawed rebel groups in other sensitive border regions.