Mohammad Moradi detained; fate of footballer Fereydoun Mostafaei remains unknown

Hengaw – Thursday, July 23, 2026

In two separate cases, Iranian security forces detained Mohammad Moradi in Mahabad after summoning him to the city's Intelligence Department, while the fate of Fereydoun Mostafaei, a 23-year-old athlete and footballer from Saqqez, remains unknown three weeks after his arrest.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Moradi, a young resident of Mahabad, was arrested on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, after responding to a summons from the city's Intelligence Department.

Informed sources told Hengaw that security forces had confiscated Moradi's mobile phone several days earlier without presenting any legal authorization. They later instructed him to collect the phone from the Intelligence Department, where he was arrested without a judicial warrant and transferred to an undisclosed location. The reason for his arrest remains unknown.

In a separate case, Mostafaei, a 23-year-old athlete and footballer from Saqqez, has remained incommunicado since his arrest by Intelligence Department forces in early July 2026.

Despite repeated efforts by his family to obtain information about his whereabouts, condition, and the charges against him, security authorities in Saqqez have refused to provide any clear information.