IRGC Kills Young Man from Marivan on Suspicion of 'Smuggling Goods'

Ajvan Kiani, a young man from Marivan, was killed on Sunday evening, June 6, by a 'barrage' of fire from IRGC forces directed at his vehicle in the vicinity of Marivan. According to the Kurdpa news agency, the armed agents of the Islamic Republic opened fire on Kiani's vehicle 'without prior warning.' The Hengaw Human Rights Organization also reported that the IRGC agents, 'on suspicion of carrying smuggled goods,' shot at his car after a chase on the 'Garan' road in Marivan, resulting in the immediate death of this Kurdish youth. Ajvan Kiani's body was transferred to medical facilities in Marivan and had not yet been returned to his family at the time of this report. Over the past decades, the armed agents of the Islamic Republic, primarily the IRGC, have targeted hundreds of Kurdish porters and traders under the pretext of 'combating smuggling.' In many cases, relevant authorities of the Islamic Republic, in response to complaints and follow-ups from the victims' families, promote the perpetrators of these shootings instead of holding them accountable and transfer them to other regions of the country. According to statistics from the human rights network 'Kolbernews' in the Iranian year 1402, 444 porters in border areas and inter-road routes of the provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, and Kermanshah were killed or injured due to factors such as direct gunfire from regime military forces, avalanches, frostbite, stepping on landmines, falling from mountains and heights, and other causes. Kolbernews reported that 373 of the injured or killed in the last Iranian year, or 84% of them, were targeted by 'direct gunfire' from armed agents of the Islamic Republic. Additionally, 37 of the total 444 porter victims in the last Iranian year were children under 18 years old. A young porter was shot dead by agents of the Islamic Republic at the border of Baneh. Ata Rostampour, a married porter with three children, was killed by gunfire from agents of the Islamic Republic. Human rights networks reported that a porter from Saqqez was shot 'in the heart' from close range. Four porters were injured due to 'direct gunfire' from agents of the Islamic Republic in Hooraman.