Fate of five Kurds unknown following arrests in multiple cities

Hengaw – Sunday, February 22, 2026

Iranian government forces have arrested at least five Kurdish men, Mehdi Jafari, Reza Khoshbonyad, Farshad Barati, Asghar Rajabi, and Hossein Mehrangiz, in the cities of Gorgan, Karaj, Mashhad, Dargaz, and Esfarayen.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Farshad Barati, a resident of Gorgan originally from Dargaz in Razavi Khorasan Province, was arrested on Sunday, January 25, 2026, during a nighttime raid on his home. Barati, who is married and has two children, was initially interrogated and later transferred to the political prisoners’ ward of Gorgan Prison.

Mehdi Jafari, a resident of Mashhad and also originally from Dargaz, was arrested on Monday, January 19, 2026.

Reza Khoshbonyad, from Dargaz, was arrested on Thursday, January 8, 2026, and transferred to an undisclosed location. Informed sources report that a forced confession was extracted from him under pressure. He has been accused of “setting fire to shops and a mosque.” Khoshbonyad has no immediate family able to pursue his case, as his only family is an elderly grandmother residing in a nursing home.

Hossein Mehrangiz, a resident of Esfarayen in North Khorasan Province, was arrested on Friday, January 9, 2026. Concerns about his fate have intensified after a forced confession was circulated on Instagram and Rubika by accounts affiliated with Iranian authorities. He has been denied access to legal counsel, as well as family visits and phone calls.

In a separate case, Asghar Rajabi, a Kurdish resident of Bojnurd, the capital of North Khorasan Province, was arrested on Saturday, January 10, 2026, at his residence in Karaj. He is currently being held in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj.

No reliable information has been released regarding the precise charges, places of detention, or current condition of these men.