According to information provided to IranWire by informed sources, on the evening of Sunday, July 26, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces opened fire without prior warning or a stop order on a vehicle carrying Mehdi Tavakoli, an artist, photographer, and instructor at the Sanandaj Youth Cinema Society. Mehdi Tavakoli, along with his mother and sister, was killed instantly.
IranWire has learned that on Sunday evening, Tavakoli’s white Samand automobile was targeted by IRGC personnel on the Marivan-to-Sanandaj road. IRGC forces opened fire on the moving vehicle without any prior warning or order to stop.
According to details received by IranWire, Mehdi Tavakoli died after being struck by two bullets, his mother was killed by a single gunshot, and his sister lost her life after being shot directly in the face.
Mehdi Tavakoli was a well-known artist and photographer in Sanandaj and an instructor at the city’s Youth Cinema Society. Due to his artistic and cultural activities, Tavakoli had been summoned, arrested, and sentenced to prison multiple times by the Ministry of Intelligence and IRGC Intelligence in 2016, 2017, and 2022.
Informed sources also told IranWire that, following the incident, IRGC forces pressured Mehdi Tavakoli’s family and relatives to publicly attribute the deaths of the three family members to a “car accident.” However, as of the publication of this report, the family and relatives of Mehdi Tavakoli have refused to accept these demands.
