Two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed and two others were wounded in a shooting in western Iran, adding a domestic security flashpoint to the wider Iran crisis.
The attack took place Monday evening in Paveh County, in Kermanshah province near Iran’s border with Iraq, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB as reported by Anadolu Agency. The IRGC’s public relations office in Kermanshah described the shooting as a “terrorist” attack and said unidentified assailants opened fire at the entrance of a house.
Iranian authorities said an investigation is under way to identify those responsible. Anadolu reported that state media initially identified the dead only as local IRGC members and said no group had immediately claimed responsibility.
Claim of Responsibility Reported
The National later reported that a little-known armed group called Xore Heva, or Sun of Hope, claimed the attack. The outlet said the group described the shooting as retaliation for Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests sparked by the 2022 death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody.
The National, citing the Norway-based Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, identified the two killed IRGC members as Khalid Khalidi and Borhan Khorisani. Hengaw also named the wounded as Kamal Shabrang and Kamal Abdi, and said Shabrang was in a coma. Those details have not been independently confirmed by Iranian officials.
Why It Matters
The shooting is separate from the Strait of Hormuz standoff and the disputed U.S.-Iran talks track, but it still matters because the IRGC is central to both Iran’s internal security and its regional posture. A deadly attack on Guard members in a Kurdish-majority border province points to another pressure point for Tehran as it manages the broader crisis.
Kermanshah has long been a sensitive area because of its proximity to Iraq and its Kurdish population. For now, Iranian officials are framing the incident as a security investigation, while outside reporting points to a possible protest-era grievance behind the attack.
Sources: Anadolu Agency; The National.