October 30, 2020
The son of a monarchist Iranian ambassador to Italy, who was believed buying arms for the Islamic Republic, has been shot dead by a man who worked for him, according to news reports in the Italian media citing police sources.
Said Ansary Firouz, 68, was allegedly murdered by a fellow national and former employee at his office in Formello in Rome’s northern outskirts. News reports said the 47-year-old gunman, Foloty Kave, had previously sought to extort Firouz, shot his former employer three times in the chest before turning the weapon on himself.
The Carabinieri or Italian police seized cellphones and personal computers immediately after the murder October 23, the reports said.
Living with his family – his wife and two children – in a villa in Olgiata, northwest of Rome, Firouz worked as a vintage car salesman. But he was also known as an international arms dealer.
Just days before his death, the Special Investigative Department (ROS) of the Carabinieri had served Firouz an indictment notice for international trafficking in weapons of war. Nine others of Iranian and Italian nationality were also being investigated.
Among the arsenal of weapons sold to Iran, the reports said, were MQ-5 Hunter drones capable of dropping the Viper Strike guided bomb; Browning M2 machine guns; AK 47 automatic rifles; the Sako TRG M10 sniper rifle and the Tikka T3 carbine.