A 22-year-old student was shot dead by Iran’s paramilitary forces in the central Iranian city of Isfahan during the country’s war with Israel in June, a student-run newsletter reported on Thursday, citing the victim’s family.
The incident had not previously been reported.
Hooman Kiani, a student at Isfahan University of Applied Science and Technology, was returning home with a friend when their car came under fire from Basij forces, a volunteer militia under Iran’s Revolutionary Guards according to the Amir Kabir Newsletter.
“Around 11 PM, their car was stopped at a checkpoint in the Mardavij neighborhood,” the newsletter quoted a family member as saying.
“The driver stopped a little late, and the officers opened fire without any warning. Two bullets struck Hooman in the lungs and liver, and his friend was hit in the leg.”
The report said Kiani was taken to Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan, where doctors performed surgery, but he did not survive his injuries.
"Emergency staff began resuscitation efforts and Hooman underwent surgery, but due to extensive bleeding and severe liver damage, he went into cardiac arrest and lost his life" the family member said.
Amir Kabir Newsletter also published a copy of Kiani’s official burial permit issued by Isfahan’s Legal Medicine Organization, which listed the cause of death as “hemorrhagic shock,” “injury to the liver and lungs” and a “gunshot wound,” with the date of death recorded as June 15, 2025.
The newsletter added the family has demanded an explanation from authorities over why Basij forces “fired directly at the car” and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
In a similar incident during the 12 day war, guards at a military base in the central Iranian city of Khomein mistakenly opened fire on two civilian vehicles, killing four people on July 17. State media said the shooters were arrested and a judicial investigation was launched.
In another earlier incident, on July 2, two young men were shot dead by the Islamic Republic's security forces outside Hamedan in western Iran.
Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported that personnel opened fire on their vehicle near the Tareek-Darreh area after suspecting it of drone-related activity.
The investigation, led by research firm Kharon and backed by a US civil forfeiture case, reveals how the network used intermediaries across Europe, the Middle East and the Americas to conceal its Iranian military end-users.
“With its use of layered intermediaries, third-country brokers and seemingly legitimate front companies in Western Europe, the helicopter-parts network demonstrates the growing sophistication of the illicit supply chains that support sanctioned military programs,” Kharon said.
The US Treasury’s October 1 sanctions followed the UN’s snapback on Iranian restrictions and targeted the Iran-based Pasargad Parvaz Kish Helicopter Company (PHC) and its Germany-based chief executive, Mehdi Shirazi Shayesteh. Treasury said PHC procured aircraft and spare parts for Iran’s state helicopter maker, PANHA, using a “transnational procurement network.”
Corporate filings show that PHC’s ownership ties extend into the investment arm of the sanctioned Pasargad Bank, embedding it within Iran’s restricted financial system.
According to a civil forfeiture complaint reviewed by Kharon, Shayesteh and his Iran-based partner, Amirhossein Salimi—the head of Uruguay’s Perfect Day SA—set up a joint venture in Portugal in 2021 called Business United Unipessoal LDA. Their first deal was the acquisition of a US-origin helicopter, which was routed through the network and eventually sold to PHC.
A US link in the chain
Among the entities linked to the operation was Cobra International, a Union City, New Jersey–based supplier that advertises itself as serving “civilian and military markets.” Between 2021 and 2023, Business United carried out several transactions with Cobra, including a $209,000 purchase of a used helicopter engine that US authorities later seized.
Kharon’s review found Cobra’s business connections also reached companies tied to Russia’s defense sector.
Court filings identified Dubai-based Indian broker Krishnamurthy Shekar as a key facilitator who sought helicopter engines from Cobra in 2023 on behalf of Business United. He maintains professional links to several aviation suppliers in the UAE and India.
In Europe, Swedish national Ramtin Emami directed two companies—Nordic Air and Heli Invest AB—that received US-origin parts from Cobra and re-exported them to Iran. Business United requested that the shipments be routed through Sweden before their final delivery to PHC, according to Kharon’s findings.
The case underscores the growing complexity of Iran’s defense procurement networks, which rely on Western intermediaries, layered brokers and front companies to mask their military objectives.
