December Protests– Hengaw confirms identities of 28 more detainees across Iran
Hengaw – Monday, January 5, 2026
The identities of 28 more detainees, including one child, two university students, and two women, arrested by Iranian government forces in connection with the ongoing December protests, have been confirmed by Hengaw.
The arrests were reported across multiple cities, including Yasuj, Hamedan, Neqab, Rasht, Sabzevar, Mashhad, Joveyn, Gachsaran, Izeh, Eghbaliyeh, Tehran’s Narmak district, Masjed Soleyman, Lar in Fars Province, and Bushehr.
According to information obtained by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, arrests carried out on Sunday, January 4, 2026, included Ebrahim Rakhshan from Yasuj, Mehdi Hassanpour from Neqab in Razavi Khorasan Province, Hassan Mayeli from Hamedan, and two university students from Rasht—Navid Kouhrou, a medical student and national biology olympiad silver medalist, and Hessam Ghadiri, a political science student and member of a university academic association.
One day earlier, on Saturday, January 3, Abolfazl Mohammadi (20) from Sabzevar; Mohammad Mokhtari, Mohammad-Amin Rasti-Zadeh, and Alireza Oveisi, all from Yasuj; Karim Jalili (40) from Masjed Soleyman; Moslem Alipour (41); and Amir-Hassan Bahrampour (22) from Mashhad, were taken into custody.
On the same day, Esmail Salehabadi (31) from Joveyn in Razavi Khorasan Province; Ali Bijani Benari and Sajjad Nazemkani, a pharmacist, both from Gachsaran; Farbod Hassanvand (22), a Lor individual with a physical disability from Masjed Soleyman who was detained in Izeh; Ali Apiki (25) from Tehran’s Narmak neighborhood; and Mohammad Babakhani (31) from Eghbaliyeh in Qazvin Province, were also arrested.
On Friday, January 2, seven residents of Yasuj—Omid Mohammadi, Shahab Gholamian, Alireza Rostami, Arya Sabzpour, Yashar Shahbazi, Reza Beshkouh, a 15-year-old minor, and Neda Gerami—were detained during protest in the city.
That same day, Dr. Mohabat Ghaffouri, a pediatric specialist from Lar in Fars Province; Erfan Khosravi from Bushehr; and Erfan Kaskani (22) from Sabzevar, were arrested by forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
No official information has been released regarding the charges, detention locations, or legal status of those arrested.
