Murder of Three Iranian Environmentalists by Illegal Hunters in Two Days

With the death of Manouchehr Shojaei in Fars Province, the number of environmentalists killed by illegal hunters in Iran over the past two days has reached three. Mr. Shojaei, 39 years old, was involved in a confrontation with illegal hunters in the "Bamu" National Park in northern Shiraz on Friday, July 4, where he was shot in the chest and throat. After being shot and falling from a rock, he died after being transferred to the hospital. Hamzeh Valavi, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency in Fars Province, reported to Mehr News Agency that Hossein Jafari and Mohammad Jafari, the two hunters who shot Manouchehr Shojaei, have been arrested. A day earlier, Mohammad Dehghani and Parviz Hormozi, two environmentalists in the protected area of "Genu" in Hormozgan Province, were killed by illegal hunters. According to Mizan News Agency, citing the Chief Justice of Hormozgan Province, "ten people have been arrested, two of whom are the perpetrators of the murder." In this context, Hamidreza Kheildar, the commander of the Environmental Protection Unit of Iran, announced that this unit is facing a shortage of "at least 5,000 personnel," which has forced environmentalists to work 18 nights instead of ten. Mr. Kheildar told Tasnim News Agency that environmentalists "work 256 hours of overtime but only receive payment for 60 hours of it." The commander emphasized: "This means forced labor." The murder of environmentalists in Iran occurs under circumstances where if an environmentalist kills illegal hunters while on duty, they could face retribution penalties. In recent years, several environmentalists in Iran have faced such penalties and spent long periods in prison. In this context, 30 Iranian hunters have sheathed their hunting weapons.