Security Forces Steal Gold and Shoot Villagers at Iranian Mine

by Roghayeh Rezaei

Ebrahim Jafarian’s eyes had been closed for four days when he finally opened them on Wednesday in the intensive care unit of Imam Reza Hospital in Tabriz.

The 54-year-old farmer’s kidneys, stomach, and intestines were riddled with dozens of pellets from a Sunday evening raid by security forces - an attack that highlights a deepening crisis at Iran’s gold mines.

Just down the hall, doctors debated whether to remove Javad Dehghan’s right eye.

The 60-year-old farmer had been shot in the face and head with pellets during the same incident outside the Andirgan gold mine in East Azerbaijan province. His eye, doctors said, was likely lost forever. The surgery to remove it would have to wait until his condition stabilized.

The two men were among four villagers shot by special forces on October 19, after residents of Andirgan village staged a peaceful protest.

According to local sources who spoke to IranWire, their alleged crime was objecting to the installation of concrete highway barriers across the only road leading to their gardens, beehives, and grazing areas for livestock.

The shooting marks the latest flashpoint in a 17-year conflict between villagers and mine operators. This dispute has escalated since special forces established a permanent presence at the site a year ago.

What began as a conflict over illegal road access has evolved into a story of environmental destruction, police corruption, deliberate violence against civilians, and the systematic suppression of rural communities seeking fundamental rights.

“They’ve destroyed us,” said one resident. “They do whatever they want. There are no laws or regulations for them. We’re trapped in their hands.”

The incident unfolded around 6.30 p.m. on Sunday when villagers noticed mine workers installing large concrete blocks along the access road.

For months, the mine had fenced off sections of the route. Now, residents said, operators wanted to make passage even more complicated by placing the heavy barriers typically used on highways.

A source familiar with the protest described the villagers’ mounting frustration: “For 17 years, they have been working illegally. The mine has no official road through our village, but they still come and go, and this is illegal.”

The source continued, “Several times protests have happened, and the special unit has come. In all these protests, injuries have occurred on both sides. But now, for a year, the special unit has been permanently stationed here and won’t leave.

“This means when villagers want to go to their gardens, grazing areas, or beehives, they cannot move freely.”

According to multiple sources, the confrontation initially appeared to be de-escalating.

Villagers spoke with Colonel Saadat of the police force, and workers began loading the concrete blocks back onto trucks.

Then, a lieutenant named Behzad Yousefi arrived at the scene.

“He told his superior, ‘You’re worthless for not arresting them,’” the source said. “There was shouting and commotion, and then, without warning or even a single warning shot, they suddenly opened fire on people from just four or five meters away.”

Another source confirmed, “Everything is Behzad Yousefi’s fault. He insulted Colonel Saadat, his superior. Colonel Saadat said we have no business with the villagers, that the people are dear to us. But this Behzad Yousefi called him worthless and shot at the poor people without warning.”

Video obtained by IranWire from that evening shows the chaos.

Amid the sounds of protest, gunfire erupts. Villagers throwing stones can be heard shouting “disgraceful” during the attack.

The human toll was immediate and severe. Along with Jafarian and Dehghan, 17-year-old Hadi Haghi was struck by three pellets. Though seriously wounded, he has since been discharged.

Abdullah Satarli suffered head wounds from pellets but has also been discharged from the hospital after his condition improved.

For Dehghan and Jafarian, the road to recovery remains uncertain.

Images obtained by IranWire show dozens of pellet wounds covering the left side of Jafarian’s body. After his second surgery on Tuesday, his condition began to improve, but he remains in intensive care.

The deliberate targeting of protesters’ eyes has become a hallmark of the Islamic Republic’s suppression tactics.

IranWire previously documented this practice in its “Blinding as a Weapon” series, which revealed how security forces intentionally shot protesters, particularly women, in the eyes during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” demonstrations.

In December 2021, dozens of farmers protesting for water rights to the Zayandeh Rood River in Isfahan were shot in the face and eyes with pellets. At least 40 people have permanently lost sight in one eye.

Naser Mohajer, a historian and writer, told IranWire that the Isfahan farmers’ protest was the first documented instance of “using pellet weapons with the aim of blinding protesters” by the Islamic Republic’s forces.

The families of the Andirgan victims have not yet filed complaints against the police.

Sources say they are waiting for their loved ones’ conditions to stabilize before taking legal action, though the prospects for accountability remain bleak.

The Andirgan conflict reflects broader tensions surrounding Iran’s gold mines, where promises of economic development have collided with environmental destruction and the systematic exclusion of local communities from any benefits.

This pattern has repeated across multiple sites.

At the Agh Dareh gold mine near Takab in West Azerbaijan province, a predominantly Kurdish area, similar confrontations have erupted.

On July 31, 2023, two young job seekers staged a sit-in to protest the lack of employment for local workers. Police forces from Takab were called in, and the demonstration turned violent.

Three citizens from Agh Dareh Vosta village were injured. At midnight, security agents raided the village, arresting nearly 40 people amid what sources described as “violence and severe beatings.”

Hojjat Momeni, shot in his right shoulder, and Nasser Bahramian, injured in the genital area, were permanently disabled. None of the police agents involved was prosecuted.

At the Taftan gold mine in Sistan and Baluchistan, the story is much the same. Baluch citizens, especially women and girls, have repeatedly protested environmental destruction and what activists call the plundering of their land’s resources.

The government’s response has been arrests of local trustees, activists, and even a people’s Friday prayer imam

“The reality is that they are the law, and it’s for themselves,” said one civil activist who spoke to IranWire. “They only see us as enslaved people. We’re not in a democratic society where we can demand our rights and stay alive or safe. They always have sticks in their hands, and as soon as we speak, they suppress us.”

The activist also described the corruption surrounding the Andirgan mine.

Special forces stationed there, ostensibly for security purposes, have strong financial incentives to remain.

“As far as I know, the mine managers are not happy about the special unit being there,” the activist said. “The unit steals from morning to night - that’s why they insist on staying.

“From the gold stones they steal, they make huge amounts of money. Their official salary might be 20 or 30 million tomans per month, but there they steal hundreds of millions worth of soil daily.” (Each U.S. dollar is around 110,000 tomans.)

Beyond the immediate violence and corruption, the Andirgan mine has caused long-term environmental devastation.

Reports have documented the death of birds and wildlife in the area due to chemical pollution from mining operations.

Abbas Lesani, a civil activist and former political prisoner, previously warned about the methods used to extract gold at Andirgan.

He cited the release of cyanide, a highly toxic substance, as the cause of “the drying of trees, villagers’ orchards, and contamination of surface and underground water and agricultural lands in the region.”

The irony is stark: one of Iran’s largest gold mines sits in an area marked by poverty and deprivation.

The wealth buried in the ground has enriched distant shareholders and corrupt officials, while local communities struggle with unemployment, blocked access to their land, poisoned water, and dying orchards.

“Previously, this mine and its environmental and wildlife damage have made the news many times,” the civil activist said.

“But instead of thinking about the comfort of people struggling with poverty and deprivation, every day they plot to make life even worse for us. And people can’t do anything except protest, and the answer to that is sticks and bullets.”

The Andirgan villagers’ plea for attention speaks to a deeper challenge faced by rural communities across Iran, particularly those inhabited by ethnic minorities.