Child Arrests in Darkness; New Wave of Teenager Crackdown in Ilam and Kurdistan

The Islamic Republic has once again trampled on children’s rights by detaining teenagers without court orders; rights it has violated in various forms for years.

While the Islamic Republic of Iran is a signatory to the United Nations “Convention on the Rights of the Child,” recent reports from the provinces of Ilam, Kurdistan, and North Khorasan show that the detention of teenagers, some as young as 15 years old, remains part of the state’s security suppression pattern.

The names circulating in the wake of December protests are not mere statistics; they are children who, according to international standards, should be entitled to special protection, not subjected to nighttime raids by security forces on their homes and transferred to unknown locations.

According to published reports, “Amir Ali Lotfi,” “Hossein Maghsoudi,” and “Zaniar Kanaani,” three 15-year-old teenagers, “Alireza Nazari,” 17 years old, and another teenager named “Saman Soleimani,” along with several other citizens in the cities of Dareshahr, Sanandaj, Asmanabad, Abdanan, Chavar, Ilam, and Bojnord, have been detained by security forces.

According to the published report, these citizens were detained without presentation of a court order by security forces, and until the publication of this news, no information about the reasons for their detention or their whereabouts has been obtained.

Regarding 15-year-old Zaniar Kanaani from Sanandaj, it has been reported that he was also detained without a court order by security forces at his home in the Baharan neighborhood of the city. This pattern (detention without an order, transfer to an unknown location, and families kept in the dark) is among the cases documented in multiple human rights documents regarding the Islamic Republic.

During the detention of Saman Soleimani in the village of Haft Cheshmeh in Abdanan, reports indicate direct clashes between security forces and residents.

The report concerning him states: “It should be noted that during Saman Soleimani’s detention, security forces clashed with villagers and damaged several private vehicles. Additionally, officers fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse the crowd.”

The use of firearms and tear gas in residential areas and in the presence of teenagers raises serious questions about the appropriateness and legitimacy of these actions.

In addition to the detained teenagers, the names of other adult citizens have also been released, including “Hamid Maleki,” “Pourya Soltanian,” “Amir Saeid Chahartarah,” “Adib Nazari,” “Behzad Safidkhani,” “Mojtaba Mohammadvali,” and “Reza Ferdous.”

In all cases, it has been emphasized that detentions took place without presentation of court orders, and no clear information about charges or detention locations has been released.

In a separate report, it is stated that 18-year-old “Sina Ghiathi” was also detained without a court order by security forces at his home and transferred to an unknown location, and to date, no information regarding the reasons for his detention is available.

Additionally, “Amir Mohammad Pirouzi,” a member of the national judo team and resident of Bojnord, was also detained at his home; a detention that was also carried out without presentation of a court order.

The detention of individuals under 18 years of age, particularly without a court order and without immediate access to family and lawyers, constitutes a clear violation of Iran’s international obligations regarding children’s rights.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran has also accepted, permits child detention only as a “last resort” and for the “shortest period possible.” However, multiple reports in recent years have shown that the Islamic Republic not only falls short of this standard but has in some cases prosecuted teenagers on security charges and even subjected them to severe punishments.

Critics say the detention of teenagers in border provinces is part of a policy of intimidation and social control; a policy applied with the aim of silencing any protest or civil disobedience.

Human rights experts have repeatedly warned that the securitization of everyday life in Iran has erased the boundary between child and adult in confrontation with the repressive apparatus. Home arrests, instilling fear in families, withholding information about detention locations, and lack of judicial transparency not only violate the rights of the accused but pose a direct threat to the psychological security of children and society.

At a time when the Islamic Republic faces widespread economic and social crises, the increase in teenage detentions raises this question: “Does the government even use children as tools of control and intimidation?” Until the publication of this report, no official has provided clear explanation for the reasons behind these teenagers’ detention.