In a remote rural area of southeastern Iran, a 30-year-old Iranian man tragically shot and killed 12 of his relatives in the country’s most violent shooting incident in decades.
The event unfolded in the early hours of Saturday when the gunman, whose identity has not been disclosed, targeted his father, brother, and other family members due to familial disputes, according to Ibrahim Hamidi, the head of the Justice Department in Kerman province, speaking to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.
Utilizing an assault rifle, specifically a Kalashnikov, the assailant carried out the deadly attack. In Iran, where citizens are legally allowed to possess only hunting rifles, incidents of gunfire are occasionally reported in the media, but this attack resulted in the highest casualty count to date. Such firearms are more commonly found in rural areas.
This incident overshadows a 2022 event where a dismissed employee of a state-owned financial group opened fire at his former workplace, killing three and injuring five before taking his own life in the western part of Iran. Similarly, in 2016, a 26-year-old man shot 10 of his relatives in a rural area in southern Iran.
Recent years have seen a rise in violent incidents in Iran, exacerbated by deteriorating economic conditions and crippling American sanctions. These factors have contributed to soaring inflation rates and increased unemployment, fueling further unrest in the country.
