Iran policeman 'killed by relative of slain Mahsa Amini protester', media says

An Iranian policeman was killed on Sunday in a car-ramming attack by a relative of a boy whose family says was killed by security forces during nationwide protests last year, local media reported.

A police official said the attacker was shot dead after the killing, which occurred during a commemoration for the boy Kian Pirfalak in Izeh, a city in southwestern Khuzestan province.

Pirfalak was one of seven killed in a shooting in November during demonstrations following the September 16 death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, also known as Zhina, after her arrest for allegedly flouting Iran's strict dress code for women.

"A policeman was killed following an appeal by the opposition to stir up insecurity on Kian Pirfalak's birthday," Khuzestan deputy police chief Colonel Hojjat Sefidpoust said, cited by Tasnim news agency.

The report said the attacker, who rammed his car into police, was a cousin of Pirfalak's mother.

Sefidpoust said the assailant had died of his wounds after being shot "thanks to the intervention of personnel" in the area.

In November, state media attributed the shooting which killed the boy to "terrorists" but his mother blamed security forces.

The judiciary announced on April 7 that a man accused of killing Pirfalak and the six others had been sentenced to death.

Hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands were arrested in connection with what officials labelled "riots" after Amini's death.