New Wave of Arrests and Court Sentences in Iran; From the Uncertain Fate of a 19-Year-Old Girl to Pressure on Kurdish Families
Amid the continuation of security and judicial actions in various parts of Iran, reports published by human rights organizations indicate the arrest of citizens, prolonged detention of individuals without formal charges, and the issuance of prison sentences for some detainees. In the latest cases, a 19-year-old girl in Mashhad remains in detention after more than three weeks, two Kurdish siblings in Kamyaran have been arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location, and one of the detainees from recent protests in Khuzestan has had their prison sentence upheld. These developments have once again increased the concerns of human rights activists regarding the judicial process and the conditions of detainees.
Based on published information, “Narges Torbati,” a 19-year-old citizen from Mashhad, has been held in the “Aramesh” ward of Vakil-Abad Prison since mid-May 2026 following her arrest at one of the city’s checkpoints. Human rights sources reported that officers arrested her after examining her mobile phone and discovering that she had been following certain foreign media outlets on social networks. Despite the passage of several weeks since her detention, no formal charges have been announced against her, and she has not been granted the possibility of temporary release on bail.
In another case, “Kezhal Rahmani and Danial Rahmani,” two siblings from Kamyaran, were arrested on June 6 by the Ministry of Intelligence forces. According to published reports, security officers entered their homes without presenting a court order and, after searching the premises, took both of them away. At the time of publication of this report, no information has been released about their place of detention or legal status. Some human rights media outlets have characterized this arrest as part of years-long pressure on the Rahmani family; a family whose one member was killed in a confrontation with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces in 2018, and the family still has not received precise information about his fate and burial location.
Danial Rahmani, a computer engineering student, had previously been summoned and interrogated by security authorities several times. Reports also indicate that Kezhal Rahmani has been under pressure from security institutions multiple times in recent years due to civil activities.
Simultaneously in Khuzestan, “Mohammad Asadi,” one of the detainees from last month’s December protests who is currently held in Shiban Prison in Ahvaz, has been sentenced to two years of corrective detention by the appeals court. According to published reports, the court upheld the prison sentence while annulling some of the additional punishments issued in the initial phase, including social and administrative restrictions. Asadi has been in Shiban Prison since his arrest in January 2026, and his case has been reviewed as part of judicial proceedings against detainees from recent months’ protests. Other reports from Khuzestan Province also show that appeals courts have upheld similar sentences against a number of detained protesters in recent months.
These cases are being raised at a time when human rights organizations have repeatedly warned in recent months about the increase in security arrests, detention of individuals in unknown circumstances, restricted access to lawyers, and the issuance of heavy sentences against civil activists and protest detainees. Human rights defenders believe that the continuation of this trend could further increase concerns about the observance of fair trial standards and the rights of defendants in Iran.
