Iranian border guards fatally shoot 15-year-old Kurdish boy, wound father in Sarvabad

Hengaw – Thursday, July 9, 2026

Amid continued systematic violence by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the border areas of Kurdistan, a 15-year-old Kurdish boy identified as Sam Hassani was shot and killed by Iranian border guards, while his father, Ahsan Hassani, was seriously wounded.

According to information obtained by the Hengaw Organization for Human Riggts, Sam Hassani was shot in the head and died at the scene, while his father, Ahsan Hassani, suffered a serious gunshot wound to the thigh.
The shooting occurred on the evening of July 9, 2026, near the village of Darki in Sarvabad county. Border guards stationed in the area opened fire on the family’s vehicle without warning.

The family was returning home after a day of work at their privately owned cherry orchard when border guards suddenly opened fire on the vehicle.

Sam’s body was transferred to the morgue at Bu Ali Hospital in Marivan. His father was admitted to the same hospital for treatment.

The criminalisation of people’s livelihoods and the use of lethal force against children and local workers on farmland and in orchards constitute a grave and fundamental violation of the right to life under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as a clear violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which impose legal obligations on Iran.

Under Iran’s Law on the Use of Weapons, officers are permitted to open fire only in highly exceptional circumstances and after complying with strict legal procedures, including the use of warning shots. In the border areas of Kurdistan, however, these legal safeguards are routinely disregarded.