Siamand Shaboi, a Kurdish political activist from Oshnavieh (Şanu) county in Iran and a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), was found dead in the Baherka district near Erbil (Hewlêr), the capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.
In a statement released on 12 July, KDPI attributed the murder to agents of Iran, labeling them as ‘terrorists.’
The Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights in Iran confirmed that Shaboi’s body was discovered on a construction site 10 km from Erbil on the same day. According to sources in Hengaw, the activist, who had sought refuge in Iraq, had multiple bullet wounds in his back.
A close relative of Shaboi revealed to Hengaw that he had been missing since Tuesday evening. “He disappeared in a completely unprecedented manner. We hold the terror teams of the Islamic Republic of Iran responsible for this assassination,” the relative stated.
The Iranian government had threatened Shaboi multiple times over the past few years, the relative said. His two brothers and 14-year-old son were recently taken into custody as well.
A week before, the KDPI reported two of its members, Luqman Aji and Adel Mohajer from Piranshahr (Pîranşar), had been killed by Iranian agents in the early hours of the previous Friday. The incident took place in Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî) province, in the city of Qaladze (Qeladizê).
Since 2021, several Kurdish activists who were citizens of Turkey and had taken refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan have also been assassinated. The Turkish National Intelligence Agency is believed by many in Iraqi Kurdistan to have organised the assassinations of Kurdish political activists in the area.