12 Baha’i adherents, including five children, arrested in Mashhad

Hengaw – Sunday, February 15, 2026

Twelve Baha’i adherents, including five children, were arrested by forces affiliated with the IRGC Intelligence Organization during a raid in Mashhad and transferred to a government intelligence detention facility.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the detainees have been identified as Barsa Maleki, Parsa Navazi, Behrad Barati, Bashir Amri, Taraneh Tabrizi, Setareh Azadi, Artin Rezaei, and five children under the age of 18: Sarvar Tabrizi, Rosha Shahidi, Farham Rezaei, Marjan Baloch Gharai, and Rakhshan Rouhi.

The arrests took place on the evening of January 22, 2026, when IRGC intelligence forces raided the family home of Parsa Navazi in Mashhad during a private birthday gathering. According to an informed source, the raid targeted a family celebration, and all 12 attendees — aged between 16 and 24 — were detained.

Sources report that security agents searched the residence and confiscated personal belongings. The operation involved at least 12 agents, including eight men and four women wearing masks and face coverings, some of them armed, while additional forces were stationed outside the home.

Hengaw has learned that the detainees were initially interrogated in an IRGC intelligence detention facility and were later transferred either to prison or to a juvenile correction center. After a period of detention, 11 of them were temporarily released on bail, while Barsa Maleki remains in custody without a clear legal status.

No precise information has been released by government authorities regarding the reasons for the arrests or the charges brought against these individuals.