The Iranian news agency Mehr quoted a deputy governor of Iran's western province of Kurdistan as saying that "the two groups were linked to terrorist anti-revolutionary groups."
Although he did not say how many insurgents had been killed, he reported that a large amount of explosives and small arms had been seized.
"The criminals had intended to use terrorist attacks to destabilize the situation in the province ahead of parliamentary elections in Iran," he said.
Parliamentary elections are due in Iran on March 14.
News agencies earlier reported that the Iranian military had shelled three Iraqi border villages on Thursday morning. No injuries were reported.
The shells were apparently aimed at bases occupied by the militant Kurdish rebel group Pejak, the mayor of Zarawah, a frontier town in northeastern Iraq, was quoted as saying.
Pejak is known to have links to Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK, listed by the U.S., NATO and the EU as a terrorist organization, has been fighting for autonomy status for Kurdistan in southeast Turkey for nearly 25 years. The conflict has so far claimed about 40,000 lives.
The Turkish military has also recently been involved in cross-border military operations against the PKK.
