Ambiguity still surrounds the murder of Iranian arms dealer Said Ansary Firouz, who was shot dead last week at his office in Formello in Rome’s northern outskirts.
Italian police reports said Firouz was killed by his driver, 47-year-old Foloty Kave, who shot his employer before turning the weapon on himself.
Recent investigative data showed that Kave’s motive was blackmail. The gendarmerie reports said Firouz was shot dead in the head and that the relationship between the two men had worsened since last year after Kave was fired from his job.
The reports said the murderer had blackmailed the victim and demanded large sums of money in exchange for information he knew about him.
Firouz was under investigation for a shipment of arms destined for Tehran, police sources said.
The son of a former Iranian ambassador to Italy during the Shah era, Firouz was the middleman and a crucial link connecting supply with demand.
Other Italian news outlets said the victim had ties with the Calabrian or 'Ndrangheta mafia, which may have been behind the assassination and Kave’s suicide attempt. The driver was connected to this criminal organization, which is the most violent in Italy.
Days before his death, the Special Investigative Department (ROS) of the Carabinieri had issued Firouz an indictment notice for international trafficking in weapons of war.
Nine others of Iranian and Italian nationality were also being investigated.
Il Messaggero reported that in 2016 Firouz met in London with Safarian Nasab Esmail, who is under investigation in Rome for international terrorism.
Firouz ran a profitable business selling and renting vintage cars to celebrities and football players.
