Kurdish activist Mehdi Tavakkoli, mother and sister killed in targeted state attack
Hengaw – Monday, July 27, 2026
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization opened fire on a vehicle carrying Kurdish artist and cultural activist Mehdi Tavakkoli, killing him along with his mother, Maryam Aslani, and his sister, Somayeh Tavakkoli, on the Marivan-Baneh road. Tavakkoli, a former political prisoner, served as director of the Kurdistan Photographers House and founded the Chaw Art House. The three were buried under heavy security in Sanandaj.
As security forces intensified pressure on the victims' family, Iranian state media and the spokesperson for Iran's Law Enforcement Command (FARAJA) portrayed Tavakkoli and his family as armed members of a Kurdish political party.
According to information verified by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, IRGC Intelligence forces ambushed Tavakkoli's personal Samand sedan on the Marivan-Baneh road on the afternoon of Sunday, July 26, 2026, opened fire on the vehicle, and killed him, his mother, Maryam Aslani, and his sister, Somayeh Tavakkoli. He was struck by three bullets, his mother was shot twice, and his sister sustained multiple gunshot wounds that left her face severely disfigured.
Hengaw sources said the victims' bodies were first taken to Salahaddin Ayoubi Hospital in Baneh before being transferred to Sanandaj under the supervision of IRGC Intelligence. They were buried on Monday, July 27, at Behesht-e Mohammadi Cemetery under heavy security.
A source close to the Tavakkoli family told Hengaw: "Government authorities have pressured the family not to publicize the incident and instead claim that Mehdi Tavakkoli, his mother, and his sister died in a traffic accident."
Meanwhile, the FARAJA spokesperson claimed that a Samand vehicle carrying members of the Kurdish armed opposition group PJAK had been involved in an armed clash near the Baneh border.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights firmly rejects the claims made by Iran's security authorities and strongly condemns the killings. The organization calls on international human rights mechanisms to launch an independent investigation into the incident and ensure accountability for those responsible.
