Baha’i couple Behzad Yazdani and Romina Khazali held in legal limbo for more than 70 days
Hengaw – Wednesday, June 10, 2026
More than 70 days after their arrest, Behzad Yazdani and Romina Khazali, a Baha’i couple from Shiraz, remain in detention in Adelabad Prison without formal charges or access to legal counsel. Both continue to be held in a state of judicial limbo, while Khazali has been denied adequate medical care despite serious health concerns, raising growing fears about her condition.
According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Khazali had previously undergone stomach surgery and suffers from multiple medical conditions. Sources close to the family state that she has been denied access to essential medication and specialist medical examinations throughout her detention. As a result, severe stomach pain and chronic back pain have worsened, placing her health at serious risk.
Behzad Yazdani, a translator and editor, was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents at his home on March 29, 2026. The following afternoon, twelve government agents returned to the family's residence, conducting a four-hour search and confiscating all electronic devices belonging to family members and guests. During the raid, the couple’s two teenage children were interrogated and intimidated, triggering a severe panic attack. The agents then arrested Romina Khazali in front of the couple’s children and her elderly parents.
Despite the passage of more than 70 days since their arrest, judicial and security authorities have refused to formally disclose the charges against the couple and continue to obstruct efforts to secure their temporary release on bail. Throughout their detention, both have also been denied access to a lawyer of their choosing.
The use of coercive measures, religious persecution, and the denial of medical care to ill prisoners form part of a broader pattern of systematic discrimination and human rights violations that Iranian security institutions have long imposed on members of the Baha’i community.
