Two Kermanshah residents, Pouya Naderi—a former Kurdish Yarsani political prisoner—and Mohammad Reza Mohammadi, were shot and killed by Iranian police forces on Thursday, August 20, in separate incidents in the Dareh Drij (Mehdiyeh) and Jafarabad neighborhoods in Kermanshah.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Naderi, who was previously detained during the November 2019 anti-government protests, was killed during an armed clash with police forces on the road connecting Dareh Drij to Jalaliyeh. The cause of the confrontation remains unknown at the time of publication.
Naderi, a resident of Dareh Drij and a member of the Yarsani religious minority, had been arrested alongside his two brothers by the Ministry of Intelligence in late 2019. He was released on bail after spending several months in interrogation at the security agency’s “Meydan-e Naft” detention center.
In a separate incident in Jafarabad, Iranian police officers opened fire on a private passenger vehicle, killing Mohammadi and critically injuring his friend.
“Officers from the Jafarabad and Sajjadiyeh police stations opened fire from both sides at a vehicle traveling from Aryashahr toward Jafarabad,” an eyewitness told KHRN. “Mohammad Reza Mohammadi was killed instantly, and another passenger was severely injured. Within minutes, plainclothes agents arrived and transferred the wounded individual to an undisclosed location.”
