Iran police kill 9-year-old, caught in crossfire, after his father stole a car

The father accused the police of not issuing any warning before shooting. (File/AFP)
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Updated 10 June 2023
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Iran police kill 9-year-old, caught in crossfire, after his father stole a car

  • Boy’s photo was shared on social media, with people expressing sorrow for his death

Dubai: A boy was shot and killed by police after his father stole a car in the southwestern Khuzestan province and drove off with him, Iranian authorities said.
Ruhollah Bigdeli, chief of police in Shushtar County, said — via Iran’s official police website — that officers tried to stop the “stolen vehicle by shooting at it,” but the boy was caught in the crossfire and died on the spot.
Police said they issued the man several warnings before they started shooting, adding that he had a criminal record, including car theft and drug smuggling.
The Iranian Jamaran news website identified the boy as 9-year-old Morteza Delf Zaregani. They spoke to the father who accused the police of not issuing any warning before shooting.
Morteza’s photo was shared on social media, with people expressing sorrow for his death.
In November, 9-year-old Kian Pirfalak, was killed in a shooting that his mother blamed on security forces.
Pirfalak was shot and killed while passing with his parents through a street in the southwestern city of Izeh, in Khuzestan province, filled with demonstrators, during nationwide protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police.


Israeli destruction of Gaza continues despite ceasefire

Updated 5 sec ago
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Israeli destruction of Gaza continues despite ceasefire

  • At least 2,500 buildings demolished, NYT reports, using satellite imagery
  • It’s not selective destruction, it’s everything,’ says former Israeli commander

LONDON: Israel continues to destroy buildings and infrastructure in Gaza despite signing a ceasefire agreement more than two months ago, the New York Times reported.

At least 2,500 buildings have been demolished. While much of the destruction has taken place in Israeli-occupied Gaza, the NYT, using satellite imagery obtained from Planet Labs, showed that numerous buildings had been demolished in territory ostensibly controlled by Hamas, despite the terms of the ceasefire including an Israeli pledge to cease operations there. 

A UN report last year found that as much as 80 percent of Gaza’s buildings were either damaged or destroyed during the nearly two-year conflict that ravaged the enclave, with most of its population displaced.

Gaza-based political analyst Mohammed Al-Astal told the NYT: “Israel is wiping entire areas off the map.”

He added: “The Israeli military is destroying everything in front of it — homes, schools, factories and streets. There’s no security justification for what it’s doing.”

A former Israeli military official called the activity “absolute destruction.” Shaul Arieli, a former commander who served in Gaza in the 1990s, added: “It’s not selective destruction, it’s everything.”

A Hamas official based in Qatar said Israel’s actions violate the ceasefire. “The agreement isn’t vague, it’s clear,” Husam Badran told the NYT. “Destroying people’s homes and property isn’t allowed. They’re hostile actions.”