The perpetrator of an armed confrontation on Iran’s northern Chalous road has been arrested in one of West Azerbaijan province's cities, Iranian state television reported on September 15.

A video emerged recently showing an armed confrontation on the Chalous road where the driver of a Peugeot 206 opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle following another driver smashing his window.

The driver is then seen getting out of his white Peugeot and proceeds to chase off the other men who flee the location.

The individual had gone into hiding after the confrontation but was identified and arrested in a planned operation in one of West Azerbaijan province's cities following a judicial order.

It is believed the person was potentially attempting to escape the country via the border with Turkey, Azerbaijan or Armenia, according to an Entekhab report.

The Chalous road connects Tehran to the Caspian Sea coast and is one of Iran's busiest highways, particularly during weekends and holidays when many residents travel to northern resort areas.

This latest incident is one of a growing number of conflicts in the country in recent months, where people armed with guns or knives have attacked each other, which is previously unheard of in the heavily secured country. 

Iran has a zero-gun policy for non-military people, so speculation has been rife about who the unnamed person was and how they managed to get the locally-made automatic weapon.

Iranian law enforcement agencies have increased efforts to monitor and respond to road rage incidents, particularly those involving weapons, as part of broader public safety initiatives.

The Chalous road incident also highlights that the Islamic Republic does, in fact, have an established weapons industry. According to foreign estimates, Iran has between 200 and 300 weapons factories, producing a range of different copies of Western and Russian weaponry, including rifles and handguns, Al Habtoor Research previously wrote.

Iran’s international arms exports are valued at around $226mn (2024), but this includes all types of weaponry, not just firearms, the most famous exports being Iran's bargain "Shahed" drones sold to Russia in its war with Ukraine, as IntelliNews previously reported in June. 

Russia has ordered up to 3,000 Iranian drones, paying between $290,000 and $375,000 per unit – vastly cheaper than domestic and Chinese alternatives.