Three unidentified gunmen fired upon Iranian embassy employee in the Brazilian capital city of Brasilia while trying to steal the embassy car.

The incident occurred around 10:45pm local time on Tuesday, May 1, when the three assailants approached the Iranian national and tried to take his car away, Press TV says citing a local Brazilian website, Brazil Dispatch.

According to the local police, the Iranian driver, who could not speak Portuguese, was accosted by the robbers as he was leaving a supermarket in the Asa Sul neighborhood of the capital.

When assailants tried to take the car, the driver resisted and was shot in the chest.

He was rushed to hospital by the owner of a nearby store where doctors said his wound was not fatal.