Iranian cop killed by relative of slain protester — reports

TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian policeman was killed Sunday in a car-ramming attack by a relative of a boy whose family says he was killed by security forces during nationwide protests last year, local media reported.

A police official said the attacker was shot dead after the killing, which occurred during a commemoration for the boy Kian Pirfalak in Izeh, a city in southwestern Khuzestan province.

Pirfalak was one of seven killed in a shooting in November during demonstrations following the September 16 death in custody of Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest for allegedly flouting Iran’s strict dress code for women.

“A policeman was killed following an appeal by the opposition to stir up insecurity on Kian Pirfalak’s birthday,” Khuzestan deputy police chief Colonel Hojjat Sefidpoust said, cited by Tasnim news agency.

The report said the attacker, who rammed his car into police, was a cousin of Pirfalak’s mother.

Sefidpoust said the assailant had died of his wounds after being shot “thanks to the intervention of personnel” in the area.

The agents of an authoritarian Islamic regime today killed Pouya Molaeirad. He was a relative of Kian Pirfalak, a nine year old boy the regime murdered a few months ago. Pouya was going to celebrate Kian’s birthday when he was shot multiple times. Members of Kian’s family also… pic.twitter.com/Mp7QF73R23

— Masih Alinejad ????️ (@AlinejadMasih) June 11, 2023

In November, state media attributed the shooting which killed the boy to “terrorists” but his mother blamed security forces.

The judiciary announced on April 7 that a man accused of killing Pirfalak and the six others had been sentenced to death.

Hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands were arrested in connection with what officials labeled “riots” after Amini’s death.