The two, killed late Tuesday, were described as members of the Pejak group who were trying to infiltrate Iran's West Azerbaijan province.

Iran says Pejak is linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a 15-year insurgency against Ankara for self rule in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast.

Reports have said at least 120 Iranian police were killed and scores wounded in Kurdish rebel attacks last year, many of them blamed on Pejak.

Iran is bound by treaty with Turkey to fight PKK militants on its soil in return for Turkey fighting the Iranian armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen.

Iran has blamed US-led forces in neighbouring Iraq for a recent upsurge in violence among the Kurdish and Arab communities in its western border provinces.