Iran arrests 12 ahead of Jina Mahsa Amini murder anniversary

Iranian security forces have arrested at least 12 Kurdish civilians and activists in West Azerbaijan province over the past three days.

The arrests come ahead of the anniversary of the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman, by the Iranian government.

The identities of those arrested are: Edris Mohammadi-Azar, Khezr Abdollahi Amirabad, Osman Hamzehzadeh, Aram Shaban, Fakhraddin Poudat, Abdolkarim Kakol, Soleiman Sharvirani, Yaghoub Fattahi, Tayyeb Abdollahpour, Shorash Ebrahimi, Omar Ebrahimi, and Edris Nobakht.

Edris Mohammadi-Azar, from the village of Baveleh in Piranshahr, was arrested on 8 July in Piranshahr, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.

On 9 July, security forces arrested Khezr Abdollahi Amirabad, Osman Hamzehzadeh, Aram Shaban, Fakhraddin Poudat, Abdolkarim Kakol and Soleiman Sharvirani in Oshnavieh.

Omar Ebrahimi, the imam of the village of Gargul-e Sofla in Piranshahr, was summoned and arrested for holding a funeral service for Loghman Aji, a member of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), who was assassinated by Iran in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 7 July.

Four other civilians, Yaghoub Fattahi, Tayyeb Abdollahpour, Shorash Ebrahimi, and Edris Nobakht, were also arrested in Piranshahr on 9 July.

The reason for the arrests and the whereabouts of the detainees are still unknown.