Iranian security forces have detained six Kurdish civilians in Oshnavieh, West Azerbaijan province, on 10 April and taken them to the detention facility of the Ministry of Intelligence in the city.
The names of these civilians are Saman Rasoulzadeh, Sanan Rasoulzadeh, Ashkan Shikak, Reza Eslamdoust, Sina Ghaderzadeh, and Diako Khalili.
Reportedly, security forces raided the civilians’ houses and detained them without presenting an arrest warrant.
The Ministry of Intelligence had previously summoned these civilians on 30 March for their participation in the Newroz (also Nowruz in Persian) public celebrations in Oshnavieh and had been interrogated for several hours.
The security institutions of the Islamic Republic of Iran have been summoning and threatening dozens of Newroz organisers since early March to prevent the holding of public celebrations in various cities and villages of Kurdistan.
Also in the past few weeks, at least 20 Kurdish activists were detained by security forces in Sanandaj and Piranshahr for participating in the Newroz celebrations.
