Arrest of well-known figures at the seventh ceremony of "Khosrow Alikordi"

Many well-known figures were arrested by law enforcement forces at the seventh ceremony of lawyer Khosrow Alikurdi at Ghadir Mosque in Mashhad.

Today, Friday, December 12, corresponding to Azar 21, the seventh day of commemoration of Khosrow Alikurdi, a lawyer and human rights defender, was held at Ghadir Mosque in Mashhad, but the gathering was accompanied by a large presence of law enforcement and security forces and the arrest of a number of participants.

According to published reports, during the ceremony, a number of attendees, including human rights activist Narges Mohammadi and winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, Sepideh Gholian, Pouran Nazemi, Noura Haqi, Ali Adinezadeh, and Hassan Bagherinia, were arrested, and the identities of some of the other detainees have not yet been determined.

Reports indicate that government forces used violence during the arrest of a number of activists, including Narges Mohammadi and Sepideh Qolyan, and there were reports of beatings of participants. Narges Mohammadi, who had recently been released from prison on medical leave, gave a speech at the event, which was accompanied by the audience chanting slogans such as “Women, Life, Freedom,” “We Fight, We Die, We Will Not Accept Humiliation,” “Death to the Dictator,” and “Long Live Iran.” Narges Mohammadi was then “violently” arrested by security forces.

Independent reports, including those from the human rights organization Hengaw, have provided more details on the names of those arrested, noting that at least 16 participants, including members of Alikurdi's family and various civil society activists, have been arrested by government forces.

The ceremony marks the seventh day since the death of Khosrow Alikurdi, a lawyer who was a political advocate for prisoners and their families, who was found dead in his office on the evening of December 6, 2025. His death was declared a “heart attack” by authorities, but his family, colleagues, and other lawyers have expressed skepticism about this account and are calling for an independent investigation into the cause of his death.

Such arrests come within the context of a crackdown on human rights activists and civil society in Iran, highlighting the nature of protests and pressure on civil society. As an international human rights figure, the arrest of Narges Mohammadi has also attracted the attention of the media and global human rights organizations.

In the wake of these developments, some human rights sources and eyewitnesses have called for the immediate and unconditional release of the detainees and a transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Khosrow Alikurdi's death.