Special Investigation Order Issued for Armed Attack on Vehicle Carrying a Member of Parliament

In the latest reports regarding the armed attack on the vehicle carrying a member of parliament in Kermanshah province, the Attorney General of the country has issued a special order for the investigation of this incident, while officials from the Ministry of Interior state that the identity of the assailants remains unknown. The vehicle carrying Hoshamatollah Falahatpisheh, the representative of Islamabad West in the parliament, was targeted by armed men in the Dalaho region on Sunday, July 20. Although the representative was not significantly harmed, two of his companions, including the driver, lost their lives, and two others, including the governor of Islamabad West, were injured. In this regard, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Kermanshah stated on Sunday night to Tasnim News Agency that the Attorney General has immediately ordered a special investigation into the matter, but 'so far, no one has been arrested in this regard.' This judicial official also reported that 'information has been obtained from the vehicle of the assailants that is currently under investigation.' He had previously announced that the assailants 'set their vehicle on fire after the incident and fled towards the mountains nearby the border.' On the other hand, while some members of parliament have reported a possible connection of this attack with the PJAK group, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior announced that 'the identity of the assailants is still unclear,' but 'security and law enforcement forces in the area are working to apprehend the assailants.' This statement has also been reiterated in the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior's conversations with news agencies. Two local officials in Kermanshah province have also expressed similar positions regarding the identity of the assailants in this incident. Mohammad Reza Amoui, the social deputy of the Kermanshah police command, stated late Sunday night to Tasnim News Agency that 'so far, no group or faction that opposes the regime has claimed responsibility for this terrorist incident.' He also urged citizens of the province to cooperate with law enforcement and security forces and 'to refrain from fueling rumors on social media and virtual networks.' Youssef Shah Hosseini, the political-security deputy of the Kermanshah governorate, also stated that 'complete security prevails in the area' and that 'necessary measures are being taken to identify and apprehend the assailants of the incident.' Previously, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security Commission of the parliament, had said that 'recently, anti-revolutionary forces have had clashes with the IRGC forces, which seems to indicate that the assassination of the parliament representative is also the work of foreign anti-revolutionary groups that have infiltrated and carried out this calculated assassination.' Mr. Boroujerdi claimed that 'according to the information received, Mr. Falahatpisheh was one of the terrorists' targets, who fortunately escaped unharmed.' He continued: 'It appears that the terrorists had been monitoring the vehicle of the representative of Islamabad West and targeted it, but after realizing that Mr. Falahatpisheh was in another vehicle, they also opened fire on that vehicle with their machine guns.' The western provinces of Iran have witnessed an increase in clashes between Iranian security forces and the PJAK group and other armed opposition groups in the past year. On September 9, 2015, Bahman Reyhani, the commander of the 'Nabi Akram' IRGC in Kermanshah province, reported the killing and wounding of several forces he described as 'anti-revolutionary' during IRGC operations to 'cleanse' certain border areas of the province. In recent weeks, the provinces of Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan have also witnessed clashes between the forces of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the IRGC, resulting in dozens of deaths.