Mohammad Damavand Mirzaei, a “Shouti” trader from Kamiyaran, was killed by direct fire from military forces in Karaj.
According to Kolbarnews, on the evening of Tuesday, December 17, 2024, Mohammad Damavand Mirzaei succumbed to his injuries after three days of struggling for his life after falling into a coma on Sunday, in a hospital in Tehran.
On Sunday, December 15, 2024, law enforcement forces in Karaj, suspecting him of smuggling goods, directly opened fire on the vehicle driven by Mohammad Damavand Mirzaei, who was a trader (Shouti driver) from the village of “Tefin,” near Kamiyaran.
Mohammad Damavand Mirzaei was hit by three bullets and fell into a coma due to the severity of his injuries.
“Shouti drivers” (locally referred to as shouti) are private vehicles used to transport goods brought in through unofficial channels to the urban centers of Iran. Many of these drivers are young, unemployed individuals who risk their lives to earn a livelihood due to poverty, unemployment, and systematic discrimination by the government.
The prevalence of the shouti phenomenon in southern, southwestern, eastern, and western regions of Iran is primarily due to high poverty and unemployment rates. Systematic government discrimination, lack of infrastructure and employment opportunities, the collapse of agriculture due to water shortages and mismanagement, and dire economic and living conditions have forced many to take up this risky occupation.
A significant number of men and women in provinces such as Bushehr (especially Bandar Ganaveh), Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad (particularly Gachsaran), Lorestan, Fars, Kerman, Baluchistan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and West Azerbaijan have turned to shouti work out of sheer necessity due to poverty and unemployment.
