Iranian-American Zoroastrian Priest Killed in Kerman

A visiting Zoroastrian priest, Arash Kasravi, has been murdered in the city of Mahan, Kerman along with two companions. The killings were confirmed by the news website Amordad, which also also emphasized that the Iranian-American cleric had traveled to Iran to attend the anniversary of his father's death and to settle legal issues related to his inheritance.

A source close to Kasravi's family, who asked not want to named, told IranWire: "He had received threats before. The source of these threats was unknown, but the subject was mostly financial."

Two of non-Zoroastrian companions of Kasravi were also killed. "Because of the death threats, he was traveling with a 'watchman'," the source told Iranwire. "In addition, a nurse accompanied him. Both were non-Zoroastrians. They were killed along with Mr. Kasravi."

IranWire’s source said Kasravi had gone to Mahan from Kerman with these two people on Tuesday, July 21. After hearing no news about them for several days, relatives of these people went to Kasravi's house on the night of Thursday, July 23. Upon entering the house, they found the CCTV camera had been stolen and the lights were all on.

Kerman police raised the possibility of a kidnapping after a sweep of the scene. But the bodies of Mr. Kasravi and his two companions were then identified by police on Friday, July 24. The exact time of the murder and the method of their killing is still unknown.

Arash Kasravi was born in 1967 and was married with two children. He had immigrated to the United States 10 years earlier and worked at a Zoroastrian shrine called Dar Mehr in California. Before this, he had worked as the editor of the People section of Amordad weekly in Tehran.