Election Conflict in Khuzestan Leaves One Dead

On Saturday, January 23, a clash between supporters of two parliamentary candidates in "Bahrām Town," a village in Shush County, Khuzestan Province, resulted in the death of a 32-year-old man and injuries to two others. According to Fars News Agency, Rahman Mousavi, the social deputy of the Khuzestan police, stated that the supporters of the two candidates, who were "all relatives," engaged in a fight around noon on Saturday, leading to one person dying from stab wounds. ISNA also reported that the condition of the two injured individuals is "good." In a separate report, IRNA mentioned that these individuals had clashed the previous night but that altercation had ended "without bloodshed." The conflict continued on Saturday morning, resulting in three people being injured by knife attacks, and ultimately one of the injured succumbed to his wounds at the Nazem Mafi Hospital in Shush. Reza Najati, the security deputy of the Khuzestan governorate, announced that two individuals involved in the clash have been arrested, and efforts to apprehend "other perpetrators and the killer" are ongoing. Iranian news agencies did not specify which candidates' supporters were involved in the clashes. Bahrām Town is located in the central district of Shush, about 10 kilometers from the Shush-Andimeshk road. For the parliamentary elections in Shush County, 23 candidates had registered, but only three were approved by the supervisory board to participate in the elections. Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran's Minister of Interior, stated on Saturday, December 19, that 10 electoral districts are in a "red status" due to security concerns stemming from "specific regional conditions," "enemy threats," and "some ethnic disputes that have previously led to killings." In this context, Hossein Zolfaqari, head of the national election security headquarters, mentioned that four provinces containing 10 electoral districts have been categorized as red security status. Zolfaqari noted that out of 207 electoral districts in the country, 10 are in red status, 50 in gray, 22 in yellow, and 125 are completely white and normal. Regarding election-related conflicts, Iranian media previously reported on December 17 that Hoshyar Maleki, a potential candidate in Khorramabad, had been murdered. In this case, Mohammad Ghanbari, the police chief of Lorestan, announced the arrest of Maleki's killer and emphasized that the motive for the murder was personal issues, unrelated to "political matters." In recent months, several armed confrontations and attacks on individuals have been reported in Khuzestan Province, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. For instance, on Friday night, October 16, a shooting at a mourning procession in Safiabad, Dezful, left two dead and two injured. In this regard, the Khuzestan Intelligence Department reported the arrest of "all perpetrators" of this incident and stated that the "incident was organized and directed by a foreign country." A few days after this incident, another citizen was shot dead in the village of Islamabad, Dezful, but it remains unclear whether there is a connection between the two events. Safiabad is a district of Dezful County, located 15 kilometers from the central part of Dezful, situated between Shush and Dezful. A few days after the Dezful incident, on Ashura, gunfire directed at a mourning procession in Behbahan injured seven people. At that time, Hossein Malekkhodaei, the Behbahan governor, denied the "terrorist" nature of the incident, describing it as a "clash" between "two mourning groups" due to "ethnic disputes." However, Fazel Mohammadpour, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Behbahan, stated that this incident was neither "tribal" nor "terrorist," but due to the "full preparedness" of the Revolutionary Guards and police to potentially confront ISIS, the shooting suspects were apprehended "within less than 15 minutes."