16 individuals, including nine Balochs, arrested across multiple Iranian cities
Hengaw – Friday, January 30, 2026
Amid an ongoing wave of arrests, Iranian government forces have detained at least sixteen individuals in recent days across the cities of Minab, Rasht, Mashhad, Qazvin, Zahedan, Chabahar, Tehran, Meybod, and Baghmalek. Those arrested have been identified as Parisa Sediqi, Roya Raeisi, Hasti Pakzad, Farhad Jangi Zehi, Saeid Raeisi, Mehran Baqeri, Abolfazl Damanjani, Rasoul Tijani, Hadi Qazi, Parviz Khosravi, Omid Bayat Sarmadi, Hamed Arbabezahi, Meysam Damandan, Farhan Pasaj, Ali Eyvazi, and Mohammadreza Baradaran.
According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the recent arrests include four children, three women, and nine Baloch individuals.
Mohammadreza Baradaran, a 12th-grade student in Mashhad, was arrested after government forces raided his family home on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, and transferred him to an undisclosed location.
Three Baloch workers — including two minors, Hamed Arbabezahi, 19, and Meysam Damandan, 17, both from Zahak, and Farhan Pasaj, 15, from Zahedan — were arrested by intelligence forces in Meybod, Yazd Province, on Tuesday, January 20. Reports indicate that they were subjected to severe torture during detention, resulting in the fracture of Hamed Arbabezahi’s hand. Meysam Damandan and Farhan Pasaj were later transferred to the Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center in Yazd, while Hamed Arbabezahi was sent to Ardakan Prison.
Farhad Jangi Zehi, a 23-year-old Baloch man from the village of Sarsureh in Sib and Soran County and a resident of Minab, was arrested on Sunday, January 18, during a raid on his workplace and transferred to an undisclosed location. According to Haalvsh News, government forces disguised as health inspectors carried out the arrest at a shrimp farming company where he was employed.
Omid Bayat Sarmadi, a DJ and tour leader based in Tehran, was arrested in Tehran on Tuesday, January 13. Informed sources report that he is being subjected to intense pressure and severe torture in an attempt to extract forced confessions.
Abolfazl Damanjani, a shopkeeper in Mashhad and the son of a fallen soldier from the Iran-Iraq war, was arrested on Saturday, January 10, after more than ten armed plainclothes agents violently raided his workplace in the Qasemabad area. On the same day, his two cousins, Rasoul Tijani and Hadi Qazi, were also arrested in a similar manner. Despite repeated inquiries, families have only been told that the detainees are being held under “temporary detention.” Sources added that government forces also searched Damandjani’s home.
Ali Eyvazi, a 16-year-old Bakhtiari Lor from Baghmalek, Khuzestan Province, was arrested in the early hours of Friday, January 9, after dozens of armed forces raided his family home. He was transferred to the Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center in Ahvaz. He has since made brief phone calls to his family, stating that he is under interrogation and being pressured to provide forced confessions.
During protests in Rasht on Thursday, January 8, Saeid Raeisi, 31, a father of one, and Mehran Baqeri, 27 — both from Chanf village in Nikshahr County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province — were arrested and transferred to Tehran. Despite traveling to Tehran, their families have been unable to obtain any information regarding their fate or whereabouts.
On the same evening, Parviz Khosravi, a Premier League basketball referee based in Mashhad, was arrested during protests in the city. He has been transferred to the execution ward of Mashhad Prison, raising serious concerns among his family and relatives.
Also on January 8, three Baloch women — Parisa Sediqi and Roya Raeisi from Chabahar, and Hasti Pakzad from Zahedan — were arrested by government forces. Hasti Pakzad was detained in the vicinity of Zahedan University, while Parisa Sedighi and Roya Raeisi were arrested in one of Chabahar’s streets.
