Kurdistan Human Rights Network

In its monthly reports, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) highlights cases of human rights violations in Kurdistan and violations of the rights of Kurdish citizens in different regions and cities across Iran.

This report includes cases recorded and reported by KHRN from across Iran through its own sources and verification mechanisms from 1 to 31 July 2026.

The restrictive environment for independent human rights organisations in Iran, coupled with the pressures faced by individuals subjected to human rights violations and their families, makes it difficult to publish accurate and comprehensive reports.

It is therefore important to note that the statistics and information presented in this report do not cover all cases of human rights violations. The report is based on KHRN’s own reporting and fact-checking of reports published by other human rights organisations and news websites.

Executions

In July, Iranian authorities executed at least seven prisoners in Sanandaj, Tabriz, Kermanshah, Ilam and Orumiyeh central prisons.

Of the total, four prisoners were executed on charges of “premeditated murder”, two on charges of moharebeh (enmity against God) through baghi (armed insurrection), and one on drug trafficking charges.

Shoresh Sattarzadeh, from Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, was executed in Sanandaj Central Prison on 1 July after spending approximately 18 years on death row.

Extrajudicial killings

In July, Iranian state forces and state-aligned armed groups killed at least 17 people, including a 15-year-old child and three members of the same family.

Nine members of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan were killed in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile strike on the party’s headquarters in the village of Zirgwezla, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 17 July. A tenth member, Aboubakr Houshangi, died four days later from wounds sustained in the strike.

On 26 July, Ministry of Intelligence forces shot dead photographer Mehdi Tavakkoli, his sister Somayyeh Tavakkoli and their mother Maryam Aslani in their car on the Baneh–Marivan road in Kurdistan Province.

Kolbars

In July, Iranian border guards shot dead at least four kolbars: Wazir Rahimi, Sirwan Khoshnamak, Zanyar Irannezhad and Soheyl Ferdowsi. The shootings took place in the border areas of Nowsud, Marivan, Sarvabad and Paveh.

Femicide

In July, at least four women and girls were killed by male family members in Saqqez, Kurdistan Province, and Chaldoran, West Azerbaijan Province.

On 12 July, Fereshteh Rahmanzadeh, a mother of two, was shot dead by her former husband in Saqqez. Her father was also killed in the incident.

Three days later, a man in Chaldoran stabbed to death his pregnant wife, Hava Amiri, their three-year-old daughter, Bita Ghavidel, and his 62-year-old mother, Seyran Hakimi.

Detentions and arrests

In July, at least 23 individuals were arrested, detained or sent to prison in West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, North Khorasan and Tehran provinces.

Of the total, 11 cases were recorded in West Azerbaijan Province, four each in Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces, two in Ilam Province, and one each in North Khorasan and Tehran provinces.

Those detained included four environmental activists, a cultural activist, a civil rights activist, a blogger, a wrestler, a bookseller and law student, and a protester. The activities of 13 people were not known.

Sentences

During the month, courts sentenced at least 15 people. Fourteen received prison terms ranging from nine months to 10 years and one day, with the sentences of three individuals partially suspended.

Two people were also sentenced to flogging, including one to 74 lashes, while three were fined between 500 million and 1.8 billion rials. Those sentenced included two children aged 16 and 17 and an 18-year-old athlete.