Etek Yazı – 9 June 2025
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| The Murder of Elahe Hosseinnezhad and the Ethnicization of Crime in Iran |
The murder of Elahe Hosseinnezhad has exposed deep fractures in Iranian society, where mourning can quickly give way to marginalization. As public outrage swelled, so too did a troubling shift in discourse—one that placed ethnicity, rather than the root causes of violence, on trial. From media headlines to social media commentary, the focus turned toward the ethnic identity of the alleged perpetrator, evoking long-standing stereotypes about Turks and other non-Persian communities. In this context, sympathy for the victim became a vehicle for scapegoating, and the crime itself was reframed through a lens of racial and regional prejudice. This article interrogates how media narratives and public discourse reproduce Orientalist logics within Iran’s internal borders, constructing “monsters from the periphery” and obscuring structural violence behind ethnic blame. Ultimately, it raises critical questions about who is allowed to be mourned, who is allowed to be demonized, and how national identity is policed through moments of collective grief.
Amidst this, after the identity of the killer was revealed—Bahman Farzaneh, reportedly from Meshginshahr (Ardabil province)—some media outlets and users focused not on the roots of the crime, but on the ethnic identity of the murderer. But is this emphasis on ethnicity justified, or is it an opportunity to perpetuate ethnic-racial stereotypes?
Shargh Newspaper’s Headline: “The Nationality of Elahe Hosseinnezhad’s Killer Has Been Announced”
Among the press, the reformist newspaper Shargh published a detailed report with the headline “The nationality of Elahe Hosseinnezhad’s killer has been announced.” The report specifically emphasizes that the killer was a married man from Meshginshahr, Ardabil, and that he was homeless in Tehran. The issue here is that Shargh, by focusing on the “nationality” and place of birth of the murderer, frames his identity as someone “problematic” from a specific region. This media bias can be perceived as a form of ethnic labeling. In a country where various ethnic groups (Persian, Turk, Kurd, Lur, Arab, etc.) live side by side, bringing attention to the “nationality of the killer” can reinforce negative stereotypes and provoke a sense of racism or ethnic superiority. In other words, Shargh’s emphasis on the murderer’s place of birth (Meshginshahr in Ardabil) sends a message beyond merely reporting the crime. This kind of labeling reflects a discourse of domination.
Shargh is considered a media outlet close to the so-called “moderate reformist” camp in Iran and has clear Persian nationalist inclinations. The paper has on multiple occasions, especially after interviews in Turkish, implicitly or explicitly accused Massoud Pezeshkian of “promoting ethnicist discourse.”
An Old Narrative in a New Context: Monsters Live in Remote Regions
Edward Said argues that in Western discourse, Eastern cultures and societies are typically portrayed as “absolute others” in contrast to the West. According to him, the East is seen as static, unchanging, and inferior. The East, he says, is depicted as incapable of defining its own identity and as irrational, driven by emotions, religion, and outdated traditions—needing to be saved, guided, and “civilized” by the West.
Said contends that Orientalists did not engage with the East as an objective reality but as a colonial construct. In his seminal work Orientalism, he argues that Orientalism was not just an academic discipline but a tool of power, domination, and political-cultural representation. In other words, the West constructed an “image” of the East to control, demean, and colonize it.
While Said’s theory is based on Western colonialism, its patterns can be observed in Iranian society as well. In this case, a trace of this mindset emerges: by attaching an ethnic identity ("the Azerbaijani background of the killer"), a media outlet like Shargh implicitly presents him through a stereotypical and negative lens. In essence, the common “West vs. East” model is transplanted into Iran’s internal dynamics, drawing lines between different Iranian populations. The “civilized center” (ethnic Persians) is juxtaposed with the “monstrous periphery” (non-Persians). This view also implies a form of dominance—culturally, economically, and politically.
The Reproduction of Ethnic-Racial Stereotypes on Social Media
The focus on the murderer’s ethnic identity wasn’t limited to Shargh’s headline—some individuals on social media echoed this approach. The reactions of some users in the current digital climate show that instead of addressing the systemic causes of crime (e.g., lack of public safety, economic issues, cultural factors), they attack the killer’s ethnicity. For example, comments like “Execute this Turk as soon as possible” were common. In Iran, associating traits like violence, savagery, patriarchy, religiosity, naivety, etc., with non-Persian ethnic groups is a frequent occurrence in such situations.
These types of ethnic hate speech are widespread in the comment sections of many news sites. One user on the Mashregh News website wrote: “Such idiots! This guy came from the village to Tehran to kill someone.” Another said: “This stinking scum must be punished as soon as possible. That’s what the Iranian people want.”
These examples suggest that part of the public (likely based in central regions and aligned with dominant media narratives) responds to crime not with rationality but with a primitive, racist reaction fueled by ethnic prejudice. The more subtle irony, however, is that Elahe Hosseinnezhad herself was originally from Sarab in East Azerbaijan province—meaning the victim was also ethnically Turk. Therefore, the emphasis on the killer’s being Turkish becomes all the more peculiar; it seems like a calculated erasure of the victim’s ethnic identity to enable the targeting of the killer’s.
Is Racism Acceptable in Certain Situations?
Orientalism is cloaked in academic language, but racism is usually crude and overt. In Iran, when “honor killing” cases involve an Afghan perpetrator, racial stereotypes and public suspicion against Afghans are immediately activated. Even in Elahe Hosseinnezhad’s case, rumors were suggesting the killer was Afghan. Similarly, if the killer is not from a central province, different racial stereotypes are triggered. Although racism typically offends non-Persian populations in Iran, it seems that in such emotional situations, a license for racism is granted, and people use the guise of solidarity to express any form of hate speech.
This mindset ultimately serves to justify violent and racist stereotypes about non-Persian regions. In the case of Elahe Hosseinnezhad, framing her murder as a crime “typical of Turks” provoked some reactions, but the wave of emotional sympathy muted broader confrontation. However, emotional contexts do not legitimize racism, and it is always necessary to challenge such discourses head-on.
Link to the original article on EtekYazı