A disgruntled employee of a large Iranian foundation killed three of his colleagues before killing himself, in a workplace hostage drama Wednesday, according to state media.

The hostage-taker struck in the western city of Ilam, in the city center offices of the Foundation of the Oppressed, a massive holding company established to manage the shah’s regime’s assets after their confiscation during the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The foundation has been under US sanctions since November 2020.

“A 37-year-old employee of the Foundation of the Oppressed in Ilam, armed with a Kalashnikov rifle and two grenades, took staff hostage in one of the offices,” the state broadcaster quoted provincial police commander Delavar Alqassi-Mehr as saying.

“He then started shooting and threw a grenade that instantly killed two women and a man, and wounded seven others,” Alqassi-Mehr said.

“The assailant committed suicide after police and security officers arrived at the scene and tightened the siege,” he added, without identifying the hostage-taker.

The police chief said four of the wounded were undergoing surgery for serious injuries.

He told state news agency IRNA that the hostage taker “had personal disputes with management”.

The US Treasury Department described the Foundation of the Oppressed as “an immense conglomerate of some 160 holdings in key sectors of Iran’s economy, including finance, energy, construction, and mining” in its sanctions listing.