"Two terrorist cells of the banned Komeleh group were identified and dismantled," the office of the intelligence authorities in Kordestan province said in a statement carried by the news agency.

"The offenders spread propaganda against the system as well as military activities and kidnapped Kordestan citizens to extort money" which was then deposited in the group's accounts abroad, it said.

Four rebels were arrested in Sanandaj, the provincial capital of Kordestan province, it added.

Komeleh is a Marxist group which seeks autonomy for Kurdish-populated regions of northern Iran and has been outlawed since the Islamic revolution of 1979.

Iran's western Kordestan, Kermanshah and West Azarbaijan provinces, which have substantial Kurdish populations, have been the scene of clashes between Iranian forces and Kurdish rebels.

However the recent unrest has been blamed on PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan), an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which has fought for self-rule in Turkey's southeast since 1984.

Observers believe that years of state pressure have severely curtailed the activities of the Komeleh.

Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington of seeking to stir up ethnic unrest by providing material support to outlawed rebel groups in sensitive border regions.