Security forces have arrested four Kurdish citizens – Mohammad Danesh-Mayeh, Soran Mahmoudi, Loghman Seyyedeh and Salam Azari – in Piranshahr and Naqadeh, West Azerbaijan Province, and taken them to undisclosed locations.
The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that, in the early hours of 23 August, security forces raided the family homes of Danesh-Mayeh and Mahmoudi in Piranshahr and arrested them.
At the same time, the forces arrested Seyyedeh in the village of Pasveh in Piranshahr.
Later that day, security forces violently arrested Azari, a former political prisoner from Naqadeh, at his workplace in the city.
At the time of writing, no information was available regarding the reasons for the arrests or the charges brought against the four men.
Despite repeated enquiries by their families, security and judicial authorities have refused to provide any information about their situation.
Previous arrests and prison sentences
Mahmoudi was previously arrested by security forces in Piranshahr in October 2023 and provisionally released on bail of 30 billion rials on 13 November that year.
In May 2024, Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad, presided over by Judge Dousti, sentenced him to three years in prison for “membership of opposition groups” through membership of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI).
Azari was previously arrested in Naqadeh on 18 November 2023 and transferred to the Ministry of Intelligence detention facility in Orumiyeh.
After 82 days, he was transferred to Naqadeh Prison and released on bail of 20 billion rials on 17 February 2024.
In January 2025, Branch One of the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mahabad, presided over by Judge Dousti, sentenced Azari to one year in prison for “membership of opposition groups” through membership of the PDKI and six months for “propaganda against the state”.
Danesh-Mayeh was also detained by security forces for several weeks in Piranshahr in 2023.
