"Two Revolutionary Guards were killed on Saturday in the East Azarbaijan province in clashes with rebels," Reza Rezvani, the regional head of public relations for the Guards told the agency.

He added that the Revolutionary Guards had also killed several rebels in recent days.

There were no further details on the identity of the rebels or the exact location of the clashes. East Azarbaijan province has borders with the neighbouring states of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Iranian forces in northern Iran have in recent months engaged in a series of deadly clashes with Kurdish rebels from the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) which operates from rear-bases in northeastern Iraq.

The rebel group has close links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly insurgency in southeastern Turkey since 1984.

In recent years, Iran has seen an upsurge in unrest in several regions with ethnic minority populations, including Baluchestan in the southeast and Arab-populated Khuzestan in the southwest, as well as Kurdish-inhabited areas.

Iranian officials have accused Britain and the United States of being behind the increase in violence.