Baloch man Mohammad Zeraati held without contact following arrest

Hengaw – Monday, May 25, 2026

Iranian authorities continue to hold Mohammad Zeraati, a 23-year-old Baloch man from Iranshahr, without providing any information about his whereabouts or condition more than a week after his arrest. Zeraati, who suffers from epilepsy, had reportedly been summoned repeatedly by security agencies prior to his detention.

According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Zeraati, a resident of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, was arrested on Friday, May 15, 2026, after being summoned to the Intelligence Department in Zahedan.

Baloch activist outlet Haalvsh reported that the arrest followed a series of repeated telephone summonses and was carried out as part of ongoing pressure by security agencies due to his older brother’s alleged membership in an opposition group critical of the Islamic Republic. The report described the case as part of a longstanding pattern in which security bodies target relatives of political activists in order to exert pressure on their families.

Reports further indicate that Zeraati was summoned to the Zahedan Intelligence Department on three separate occasions in March and April 2026. During the first two interrogations, he was subjected to hours of questioning accompanied by severe physical and psychological torture before later being abandoned in a neighborhood in Zahedan.