A 30-year-old man fatally shot 12 of his relatives early Saturday morning, February 17 marking the deadliest family-related shooting Iran has seen in decades.
Ebrahim Hamidi, the head of the justice department in Kerman province, Iran reported that the assailant, who remains unnamed, carried out the attack with a Kalashnikov assault rifle. He targeted immediate family members, including his father and brother, in an event that has left the nation in shock.
In Iran, the occurrence of shootings is an anomaly due to the country’s rigorous firearm control laws. Iranians are generally only allowed to possess hunting rifles, a regulation strictly enforced.
Historically, Iran has witnessed shootings of a familial nature, but none as deadly in recent decades. In 2022, a dismissed employee from a state-owned financial conglomerate launched a fatal attack at his former workplace in the west of the country, resulting in three deaths and five injuries before the gunman took his own life.
In 2016, a 26-year-old man in the south of Iran killed 10 relatives in a rural area.
Experts attribute the rise in violence to deteriorating economic conditions, exacerbated by international sanctions. These factors have led to soaring inflation and increased unemployment, contributing to a volatile environment where such incidences might become more frequent.
As Iran confronts the fallout from this devastating incident, efforts to address the root causes of such violence and prevent illegal weapon access are imperative. Besides, the incident has prompted a renewed focus on the regulation of firearms in Iran, especially in rural locales where hunting rifles are more commonly held.
