A man shot dead 12 of his family members and injured three others on Saturday morning in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The incident occurred at 04:30 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) in Faryab County when the 25-year-old armed man opened fire on his two stepbrothers and their family members in two houses. Tasnim quoted Kerman's Police Commander Nasser Farshid as saying this in an address to reporters.

He cited family differences as the shooter's motive, adding that a manhunt had been launched to arrest the "murderer."

(With UNI inputs)