ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Two Kurdish members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Basij militia, including a local figure widely known for his role in suppressing the 2022 anti-government protests, were shot dead at their homes by unidentified gunmen in Paveh, western Iran, late Monday.
The killing marked the third attack targeting Iranian security forces in the Kurdish region within a week, following separate assaults in Baneh, Kurdistan province, and Mahabad, West Azerbaijan province, that left several security personnel dead or wounded.
The two men were identified by the semi-official Mehr News Agency as Khaled Khaledinia and Burhan Karisani.
“Following what the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps described as a terrorist attack in Paveh, armed individuals opened fire at the front door of the homes of two members of the IRGC, resulting in the deaths of two local IRGC personnel,” Mehr reported.
Khaledi was a well-known Basij member in the Kurdish cities of Paveh and Javanrud in Kermanshah province. Kurdish activists and those detained during the protest have accused him of playing a direct role in the crackdown on protests that erupted following the death of young Kurdish woman Zhina (Mahsa) Amini at the hands of Iran's morality police in Tehran in September 2022. The Woman Life Freedom demonstrations began in Kurdish areas before spreading across Iran.
The IRGC and Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence have long recruited local Kurds as informants and auxiliary security personnel, offering financial incentives in economically deprived areas, according to Kurdish activists and rights groups.
Local Kurdish media reported that a newly emerged Kurdish group calling itself "Sun of Hope" claimed responsibility for the attack. Little is known about the group, which has not publicly disclosed its identity, leadership, or objectives.
The killings come at a sensitive time for authorities in Tehran, who have deployed thousands of additional security personnel across the country, including in Kurdish areas, amid fears of renewed unrest.
The crackdown in the city of Javanrud attracted international attention in late 2022 when the IRGC and its militia basij deployed heavy guns to the city to kill and maim protesters. The city was turned into a war zone during the crackdown with thousands of people detained many of whom were severely tortured.
Paveh and other Kurdish towns were heavily bombed during the six-week US-Israeli air campaign against Iran that began in late February. An IRGC colonel wounded in those strikes died from his injuries last week, prompting a large funeral organized by the force in the city.
Iranian and US mediators are expected to meet today to resolve remaining differences over the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) reached in mid-June to end the conflict.
Mehr said the relevant authorities are investigating the incident, and intelligence and security efforts are underway to identify and arrest those responsible.
