The shootout took place on Monday near the city of Taybad, in the Khorasan Razavi province, Press TV said.

"Police also confiscated ammunitions and weapons," the television channel said on its website.

Iran is a major transit route for drugs originated from Afghanistan, the world's leading heroin producer.

Some 120 drug smugglers and couriers were killed in Iran between April 2008 and January 2009, and around 30 tons of drugs were seized.

The Islamic Republic allocates $600 million a year for the fight against drug trafficking.