Security forces arrested Kurdish civilian Saadoun Sharifi on 4 September in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan Province, as part of a wider wave of arrests targeting Kurdish civilians ahead of the second anniversary of the anti-government Women, Life, Freedom uprising.

Sharifi was arrested without a warrant after security forces raided his family’s home in the village of Gard Aseh in Piranshahr and taken to an undisclosed location, with the authorities yet to provide any information about his detention or the charges against him.

Over the past two days, at least eight Kurdish civilians have been detained by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organisation in the cities of Mahabad, Oshnavieh and Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan Province, and taken to security detention centres in Orumiyeh, West Azerbaijan Province.