Volunteer mentor for child laborers Mehdi Shafakhah arrested by intelligence forces

Hengaw – Thursday, May 14, 2026

Mehdi Shafakhah, a social activist and volunteer mentor for child laborers, was arrested after agents of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence raided his home in Tehran and transferred him to an undisclosed location.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, intelligence agents arrested Shafakhah on Tuesday evening, May 12, 2026, while searching his residence and confiscating personal belongings.

Sources also reported that agents seized the mobile phone of Shafakhah’s wife during the raid. His own phone had reportedly been confiscated by security institutions prior to his arrest.

The reasons for his detention, any charges against him, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. Efforts by his family to obtain information about his condition have so far yielded no results.

Over recent years, Shafakhah had been involved in voluntary work in deprived and marginalized communities, using sports training and social skills education to support child laborers and vulnerable teenagers and help prevent social harms such as addiction and juvenile delinquency.

Mehdi Shafakhah is the brother of Reza Shafakhah, a lawyer and activist focused on the rights of children and political prisoners.