Kurdish man shot dead near Baneh; three others arrested by IRGC forces
Hengaw – Sunday, March 15, 2026
A Kurdish man from Saqqez, identified as Arman Khaleghpanah, was shot dead by forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) near the city of Baneh, while three other Kurdish civilians, Abdollah Mahjour, Salar Azar, and Sheikh Zahed Shahabi, were arrested by the same forces.
According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, on Wednesday, March 11, 2026, IRGC forces surrounded a private vehicle near Baneh and immediately opened fire on it, killing the driver, Arman Khaleghpanah.
Following the shooting, the three other passengers in the vehicle — all residents of Saqqez — were violently arrested by IRGC forces. Hengaw has identified the detainees as Abdollah Mahjour, a former political prisoner, Salar Azar, and Sheikh Zahed Shahabi, a Kurdish religious activist.
Hengaw has learned through informed sources that the body of Arman Khaleghpanah has not yet been returned to his family.
In addition, five days after the arrests, repeated efforts by the families of the three detainees to obtain information about their whereabouts and legal status have so far been unsuccessful.
Following the arrests, IRGC intelligence forces raided the family homes of the detainees, conducting searches while creating an atmosphere of intimidation and fear. Hengaw had previously reported that the search of the Shahabi family home was carried out with such violence that family members were forced to leave the house due to the extensive damage and threats issued by the IRGC forces.
Over the past month, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has deployed large numbers of forces across cities in Kurdistan. These measures intensified following the announcement of a coalition among Iranian Kurdish political parties and the escalation of airstrikes between Iran and Israel. Since then, mobile checkpoints, vehicle searches, and violent treatment of civilians on roads across Kurdistan have significantly increased.
