Kurdish Nurse Kiyan Ashtab Transferred to Mahabad Prison to Serve Nine-Month Sentence
Kiyan Ashtab, a 30-year-old Kurdish nurse from Mahabad, has been transferred to the city’s central prison following a summons to execute a judicial ruling, to serve his nine-month discretionary imprisonment sentence. He was previously arrested in the summer of 1404 (2025) and, after several weeks of interrogation, was temporarily released on bail.
According to reports published by human rights organizations and Kurdish media outlets, Kiyan Ashtab was transferred to Mahabad prison in the final days of Mehr 1405 (September-October 2026) after receiving a notice of execution and presenting himself to judicial authorities.
The Kurdish nurse was sentenced to nine months of discretionary imprisonment by the first branch of the Revolutionary Court of Mahabad in Mordad 1405 (July-August 2026). News agencies Hrana and Kurdistan have identified the charge against him as “propaganda against the system”; however, in some other reports, the charge of “action against national security” has also been mentioned. The exact details of this discrepancy in published information are unclear.
According to human rights sources, Kiyan Ashtab was arrested on the 30th of Khordad 1404 (June 20, 2025) by forces of the Intelligence Office and transferred to one of this agency’s security detention facilities in Urmia. After several weeks of detention and interrogation, he was transferred to Mahabad Prison and subsequently released on bail to allow the legal proceedings of his case to continue.
Now, with the execution of the nine-month prison sentence, this healthcare worker is once again serving time in prison. At the time of publication of the aforementioned reports, no independent information has been released regarding the complete details of the case, court documents, and the formal response of judicial authorities to the criticisms raised about the trial process.
Kiyan Ashtab’s case is being raised at a time when human rights reports are documenting the issuance of imprisonment and detention rulings against citizens in various parts of Iran. The use of security charges in cases related to expression of views or political activities has consistently raised concerns about freedom of speech, the right to defense, and respect for fair trial procedures.
In Ashtab’s case, what various sources confirm is his transfer to prison to execute the nine-month imprisonment sentence. Regarding the details of the charges and the basis for the ruling, the publicly available information remains incomplete and inconsistent.
Behind every name in reports of arrests and imprisonment lies a human being with a life, family, and future affected by these rulings. Accurate documentation of these cases and monitoring the status of prisoners is part of the effort to prevent the fate of these individuals from being forgotten.
