96 Arrested in September 2024 by Security Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Hengaw; Friday, October 4, 2024

According to data compiled by the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, at least 96 individuals, whose identities have been verified, were arrested by security forces across Iran in September 2024. The majority of those arrested were Kurds, accounting for 65 cases, or 68% of the total.

Breakdown of Arrests:

•⁠  ⁠Gender and Age:
  - At least 8 female activists were arrested.
  - At least 5 children under the age of 18 were arrested.

Nationality Distribution:
  - Kurds:65 individuals
  - Balochs: 10 individuals
Additionally 7 Baha’i activists were arrested by the Islamic Republic of Iran's security forces last month.

The highest number of arrests occurred in Kurdistan (Sanandaj) Province.

Geographical Distribution of Arrests:

    •    Kurdistan (Sanandaj) Province: 38 arrests
    •    West Azerbaijan (Urmia) Province: 24 arrests (23 Kurds and 1 Baloch)
    •    Sistan and Baluchistan Province: 7 arrests
    •    Tehran Province: 6 arrests
    •    East Azerbaijan Province: 4 arrests
    •    Kermanshah Province: 3 arrests
    •    Khuzestan Province: 3 arrests (2 Lor Bakhtiari and 1 Arab)
    •    Fars Province: 3 arrests
    •    Golestan and Hamedan Provinces: 2 arrests each
    •    Razavi Khorasan Province: 2 arrests (1 Baloch and 1 Persian)
    •    Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province: 1 arrest (1 Qashqai individual)
    •    Kerman Province: 1 arrest (1 Baloch)

78% of the Arrested Were Kurds and Baloch

Hengaw’s data shows that at least 65 Kurds were arrested in September, representing 68% of all arrests across Iran. Additionally, 10 Balochs (10% of the total) were apprehended by security forces.

Arrests of Religious Minorities:

The arrests of religious minority activists continued in September, with at least 7 Baha’i activists, including 3 women, 1 Christian woman, and 1 Sunni activist arrested. The identified individuals are:

Baha’i Activists:

    1.    Iraj Noorestheh from Tabriz
    2.    Sina Aghdasi from Tabriz
    3.    Azam Azmoudeh from Tabriz
    4.    Negar Misaghian from Shiraz
    5.    Shahin Moddat from Gorgan
    6.    Soudabeh Mahdinejad from Gorgan
    7.    Mahboub Habibi from Shiraz

Christian Activist:

    1.    Mojdeh Fallahi from Shiraz

Sunni Activist:

    1.    Abdolvahab Pasand from Rask

Arrest of 8 women activists and 5 children in September 2024

At least 8 female activists, including 3 Kurdish women and 3 Baha’i women, were arrested in September, representing 8.5% of the total arrests. The identified women are:

    •    Mina Soltani and Srwa Shiri from Bukan
    •    Mojdeh Fallahi and Negar Misaghian from Shiraz
    •    Soudabeh Mahdinejad from Gorgan
    •    Fereshteh Souri from Hamedan
    •    Azam Azmoudeh from Tabriz
    •    Parastu Ahmadi from Marivan (arrested six months ago, with news made public recently by Hengaw)

Additionally, at least 5 minors under the age of 18 were arrested, including three Kurdish and two Baloch individuals. Their identities are:

    1.    Ramyar Abubakri, 16, from Mahabad
    2.    Mardin Dehghani, 17, from Marivan
    3.    Edris Dehmerdeh, 17, from Zabol
    4.    Amir Mohammad Irandegani, 16, from Khash
    5.    Pouria Hosseini, 16, from Divandarreh

Arrest of Teachers and Students:

Security forces also targeted teachers and students, resulting in the arrest of at least two teachers and two students during the month.

Arrested Teachers:

    1.    Shadman Mohammadi from Bolbanabad
    2.    Hamidreza Vazini Atar from Tehran

Arrested Students:

    1.    Sina Mohammadi from Bolbanabad
    2.    Saeed Sarani from Zahedan

Arrest of Two Media Activists in September

Two journalists and media activists were also arrested in various cities across Iran. Their identities are:

    1.    Sajjad Sadeghi from Tehran
    2.    Fardin Mostafaei from Saqqez

Arrest of Writers and Artists

In September 2024, at least two singers—Omid Ahmadnejad from Mahabad and Reza Alaei from Baneh—along with poet Ali Jahani from Hamedan and writer Arash Ramazani from Mashhad, were arrested by security forces.

The identities of all these 96 cases have been recorded in the Statistics and Documents Center of the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. The use of these statistics is permitted with proper source attribution.