Two Family Members of Slain Yarsani Brothers Arrested as Fortieth-Day Memorial Preparations Underway
As the family of “Mojtaba and Maysam Visi” prepares to hold a fortieth-day memorial service for the two slain Yarsani brothers, reports indicate that two close relatives have been arrested by government forces in Kermanshah. The human rights organization Hengaw has announced that the two individuals were transferred to an unknown location following their arrest, and as of the time of this report, no information is available regarding their place of detention or possible charges.
In continuation of security pressure on families of justice-seekers in Iran, the human rights organization Hengaw has reported the arrest of two relatives of Mojtaba and Maysam Visi, two Yarsani brothers who had previously died during operations by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces.
According to the report, on the evening of Wednesday, July 8, 2026 (Tir 17), “Farud Visi,” the brother of Mojtaba and Maysam Visi, and “Farhad Ghafourizadeh,” the cousin of the two brothers, were arrested by government forces on one of the streets in Kermanshah and transferred to an unknown location. These arrests occurred precisely as the family was preparing to hold the fortieth-day memorial service for the aforementioned deceased; a ceremony scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 9 (Tir 18).
According to the human rights organization Hengaw, hours after the arrest, the families of these two citizens remain uninformed about the place of detention, the detaining authority, and possible charges against them; a situation that has heightened concerns about their condition.
Mojtaba and Maysam Visi were civil activists, followers of the Yarsani faith, and founders of the Dareh-Driz neighborhood library in Kermanshah. According to published reports, the two brothers died on May 28, 2026, after their residence in Qaleh Kahosh village in Dalahou county was surrounded, following gunfire by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces. Their family and human rights sources have stated that the two had been repeatedly arrested due to their civil, religious, and social activities, and following widespread protests, fearing security persecution, they had gone into hiding.
The arrest of relatives of the deceased prior to holding fortieth-day memorial services has been repeatedly reported by human rights organizations in recent years. These organizations state that in numerous cases, security forces have attempted to prevent the holding of memorial services or their transformation into protest gatherings through summons, arrest, or pressure on families. In previous reports, Hengaw, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have also expressed concern about continued pressure on families of justice-seekers and religious minorities, including followers of the Yarsani faith.
