Kurdish shopkeeper killed by police gunfire in Hawraman

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A Kurdish shopkeeper was caught in the line of fire and killed by Iranian police in Hawraman’s Takht village on Tuesday.

Said Rostamzadeh, 36, was hit by a bullet after it ricocheted off a nearby vehicle during a car chase targeting alleged smugglers, according to a police statement. 

“Unfortunately one of the bullets hit the rim of the car and then and hit a passerby,” Col. Amir Hoshang said in a statement to state-run IRNA.

Rostamzadeh was shot in the abdomen, a witness told Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN). 

Police officers “ignored” the large crowds nearby and opened fire, “violating laws on the use of weapons by government officials,” they added.

In an interview with Iranian state media, the social deputy of the Kurdistan Disciplinary Command confirmed the news and said the killing will be “carefully investigated."

Rotamzadeh lost his father to cancer last year and was the sole provider for his family, running a shop he put together “with the help of family and friends,” the witness told KHRN. 

He leaves behind one child. 

Local police expressed “regret” and condolences to the family of the deceased, according to state media.

The Iranian regime’s police and security forces have a history of shooting civilians, including daily reports of border guards opening fire on kolbars, or smugglers. 

An estimated 57 kolbars were shot dead by border guards in 2019, according to statistics from the KHRN.

Unemployment and increasing poverty, particularly in western Iran, have pushed people into dangerous lines of work, including smuggling goods across the Iran-Kurdistan Region border.