Two Baha’is, Soraya Manouchehrzadeh and Arsalan Yazdani, arrested in separate cases

Hengaw – Saturday, August 22, 2026

Iranian security forces have arrested two Baha’is, Soraya Manouchehrzadeh in Sari and Arsalan Yazdani in Tehran, in separate cases and transferred them to undisclosed locations. Both have been denied access to a lawyer and contact with their families.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Intelligence Department forces arrested Manouchehrzadeh on Saturday, August 22, 2026, after climbing over the wall of her family home in Sari without presenting a warrant. They searched the home and confiscated books and electronic devices belonging to her and her family members.

Security forces had previously searched Manouchehrzadeh’s home in 2022.

The same day, Intelligence Department forces arrested Yazdani in Tehran without presenting a warrant and confiscated his personal belongings, including his mobile phone and laptop.

Yazdani was previously arrested in September 2021 and later released on bail. In December 2023, the Tehran Province Court of Appeals sentenced him to six years in prison and his wife, Samira Ebrahimi, to four years and five months.

Authorities have not disclosed the reasons for the arrests, the charges against the two, or their places of detention.