More than 53,000 Arrested, Activists and Lawyers Now Increasingly Targeted

Reports of Deaths in Custody Emerge as Authorities Fast-Track Sham Trials, Children at Risk of Execution

Center for Human Rights in Iran

February 25, 2026 — Nearly two months after the Iranian government’s use of military-grade weapons, snipers, and shoot-to-kill orders resulted in the deaths of thousands of protesters across Iran, the state’s violent suppression of its traumatized society is aggressively continuing.

Violent arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances are ongoing, especially in Iran’s provincial cities, and activists, lawyers, writers, labor organizers, teachers, and other civil society actors are being increasingly targeted for arrest in a concerted state effort to silence any societal response to one of the bloodiest massacres in Iran’s modern history.

Over 53,000 people, including hundreds of children, have been arrested, according to HRANA. Many are still held incommunicado and most without access to independent legal counsel, and thus at extreme risk of abuse in custody.

Credible reports of torture and deaths in custody have emerged, hundreds of forced confessions, routinely extracted under torture and used to convict for grave charges, have been broadcast on state TV, and death sentences are now being issued without due process. Amnesty International recently warned of the risk of death sentences for at least 30 detained protesters, including two children.

“The massacre of thousands of protesters was the Islamic Republic’s opening act. Where the security forces left off, the judiciary has stepped in to finish the job with mass arrests, enforced disappearances, sham trials, and death sentences designed to extinguish dissent,” said Esfandiar Aban, Director of Research at the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).

“This is a coordinated campaign of violent repression that stretches from the streets to the courtrooms. The bullets have been replaced with verdicts, but the objective is the same: to crush all dissent,” Aban said.

Key findings:

• Violent arrests and nighttime raids continue, especially outside the capital.
• Enforced disappearances: Authorities systematically deny families and lawyers information on detainees’ whereabouts and conditions.
• Reports of torture and broadcast forced confessions continue to mount.
• Deaths in custody: Several detainees have reportedly died in custody.
• Death sentences: Death sentences are being issued without due process.
• Children and teenagers targeted: Over 500 minors were arrested, and hundreds still remain in detention; at least two now face risk of execution.
• Arrests of activists, lawyers and cultural figures: Activists, lawyers, teachers, labor organizers, writers, and media figures increasingly being arrested and detained.
• Blocked legal access: Detainees denied access to independent lawyers.
• Special Revolutionary Courts created to fast-track prosecutions of protesters.
• Economic vulnerability: Many families cannot afford bail or travel to courts.

CHRI calls on the international community to respond to the atrocities being committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran by:

• Referring Islamic Republic officials to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecutions for crimes against humanity.
• Recalling ambassadors and severing diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic.
• Severing economic relations, especially including cutting off the regime’s oil revenues.
• Prioritizing the provision of internet access to the people of Iran.
• Demanding immediate disclosure of the names, locations, and status of all detainees, and provide immediate access to their families and chosen lawyers.
• Demanding the immediate release of all those detained during the recent protests, and the release of all political prisoners.
• Demanding an immediate moratorium on all protest-related executions.
• Providing emergency protections (humanitarian visas and asylum) for protesters, threatened families, journalists, medical workers, activists, and others at risk.

“Governments should recall ambassadors, sever economic lifelines—particularly oil revenues—and demand the immediate disclosure of every detainee’s whereabouts. Without tangible consequences, the machinery of repression will only accelerate,” Aban stressed.

Continued Arrests and Enforced Disappearances, Cases Fast-Tracked in Special Courts

Research conducted by CHRI over the past several weeks indicates that the mass arrests and violent house raids that began immediately after the state’s slaughter of at least 7,000 protesters in early January have continued, especially in Iran’s provinces outside the capital.

These arrests typically follow violent nighttime raids conducted by plainclothes agents targeting protesters’ homes, who use pellet gun wounds on individuals’ bodies as evidence of participation in protests and thus justification for arrest.

Arrests have been carried out by security and intelligence bodies, including the Ministry of Intelligence, the Law Enforcement Intelligence Organization, and the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the authorities have systematically withheld information on detainees’ charges, locations, and conditions from families.

Arrests have continued at an especially rapid pace in smaller cities, including Shirvan, Bojnord, Andimeshk, Ilam, Esfarayen, and Arak. In Bojnord, a source told CHRI:

“Arrests of citizens in Bojnord began in the very first days of the protests and are still ongoing. Most of the arrests have been carried out arbitrarily, and in the early days, families had no information about where their loved ones were being held.

“A large number of those detained in Bojnord are Kurdish citizens, including several Kurdish athletes who were arrested after the protests. Some of them remain in detention.

“Reporting on detainees in cities like Bojnord or Shirvan is extremely difficult. On the one hand, families are under severe pressure; on the other, many are promised that if they remain silent, their child will be released.”

“Most of these families are poor and have no means to pursue the situation of their loved ones.”

An informed source in Esfarayen, a small town in North Khorasan Province, told CHRI that detainees are transferred to the city of Bojnord, further obscuring their whereabouts and increasing families’ uncertainty.

“In a small town like Esfarayen, the number of detainees is very high, and arrests are still continuing. The main reason—aside from the town’s small size—is that on December 29 and 30, young people in Esfarayen came into the streets without covering their faces, believing that it was all over. As a result, many people in Esfarayen and Ashkhaneh were quickly arrested.

“The cities of Esfarayen and Ashkhaneh do not have prisons at all. Therefore, all detainees from these towns are transferred to Bojnord. As a result, many families do not know where their children are, and no one is accountable to them. Most of these families are poor and have no means to pursue the situation of their loved ones.

“For days, you can see hundreds of people standing outside the Revolutionary Court building in Bojnord, simply trying to find out where their children—who were arrested two weeks earlier—are being held.”

“Many cannot even afford the cost of traveling back and forth between the court and prisons.”

A source told CHRI that hundreds of families gather daily outside Revolutionary Courts and are often unable to afford repeated travel between courts and prisons.

“Many families don’t even know what they are supposed to do or where they should go to follow up on their cases. Every day, hundreds of people stand waiting anxiously outside the Revolutionary Court. Many cannot even afford the cost of traveling back and forth between the court and different prisons to pursue these matters. Many come from working-class families whose livelihoods depend on daily wages.”

“Two sisters, 14 and 18, remained because their family was too poor to post bail.”

A protester from Mashhad who was arrested days before the January 8–9 massacre and was released on bail described conditions in detention:

“Anyone who is more isolated, poorer, and more vulnerable is crushed there. I saw very young girls—14 or 15 years old—being arrested. They were defenseless, and I had to comfort them like a mother or older sister. I was released on bail, but two sisters, 14 and 18, remained because their family was too poor to post bail.”

“All major cases are then sent to a specific new branch in the basement of the Revolutionary Court.”

An informed source in the city of Arak told CHRI that authorities established a special branch of the Revolutionary Court dedicated to protest cases carrying more serious charges, and Branch 7 of the Prosecutor’s Office systematically adds additional charges, such as “assembly and collusion.”

“In Arak, most major protest cases are sent to Branch 7 of the Prosecutor’s Office, presided over by Javad Atabaki, who is completely handpicked. For all defendants, in addition to other charges, he systematically adds the charge of ‘assembly and collusion.’

“[Judicial authorities in Arak] abuse the provision known as Note to Article 48 to deny independent lawyers the right to represent their clients. All major cases are then sent to a specific new branch in the basement of the Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Khosravi. Naturally, the hearings are merely formalities, and the verdicts are prearranged.”

Referring to the case of Iliya Kolangir, a student at Farhangian University in Arak who was arrested during the protests and later released on bail, the source told CHRI how these cases were being fast-tracked through the courts, with court sessions continuing through weekends and holidays to process the huge numbers of cases quickly.

“Shortly after his release on bail, this student received a summons stating his trial would be held on a Friday (the weekly holiday). This is highly unusual. In the summons itself, it was written in large, bold letters: ‘Although Friday is a holiday, court sessions will be held.’ In Arak, the judicial process continues even on official holidays, probably due to…the high number of detainees and overcrowded courts.”

Deaths in Custody

Amidst the continuing raids and arrests, and the continued detention of tens of thousands, there are alarming reports of several deaths in custody. An informed individual on the situation of detainees in Mashhad told CHRI:

“I personally know at least two people who were arrested after December 29–30—one in his shop and the other at home. After several days of complete silence, their families were contacted and told to come to the forensic medicine office to collect the bodies.”

One of the detainees mentioned by this source is Ali Rahbar, a fitness coach who was arrested in Mashhad, and later his family was contacted to collect his body. According to the source,

“Ali Rahbar was completely healthy at the time of his arrest, and his death in detention was most likely due to severe torture.”

In Mashhad, judicial authorities reportedly instructed several families—whose relatives had been arrested days after the January 8–9 crackdown—to collect their loved ones’ bodies from the forensic medicine office. An informed source told CHRI:

“Although we do not know exactly what has happened to many detainees, we know the situation of many families is extremely dire. Many have no idea where their child is. At best, they have had a few short phone calls, but they don’t even know where those calls came from.”

Arrest of Activists: “The main issue for the authorities now is controlling the narrative of the massacre and killing.”

In a new and growing trend since the onset of protests, numerous labor, civil, political, teachers’, and cultural activists—who were not identified as protesters—have been increasingly targeted by the authorities and detained nationwide.

Between December 26, 2025, and February 23, 2026, at least 28 teachers and teachers’ union activists were arrested in cities including Azna, Karaj, Sonqor, Isfahan, Bojnord, Eslamabad-e Gharb, Gilan, Mashhad, Qazvin, Kermanshah, and Shiraz. The arrests were arbitrary, and most were violent. While some detainees have been released, many remain imprisoned.

Security forces, including the IRGC Intelligence Organization, raided the workplace of Mahmoud Sedighi-Pour, a member of the Gilan Teachers’ Association, during memorial ceremonies marking the 40th day of those killed in the protests, and arbitrarily arrested him. On February 20, 2026, Yaghoub Mohammadi—a forcibly retired teacher who had spoken at a memorial for slain student Alireza Seidi—was arbitrarily arrested at his home.

An informed source regarding the arrest of Hossein Ramazanpour, a teacher and labor activist in the city of Bojnord, North Khorasan Province, told CHRI:

“Mr. Ramazanpour was arrested on the street in a very violent manner. He had gone out to buy something at a supermarket when several plainclothes agents stopped him on the street, beat him severely, and forced him into a vehicle. For two weeks, no one had any information about Mr. Ramazanpour. His mother is over 70 years old and suffered greatly until just a few days ago, when they finally learned that he is in Bojnord Prison.”

At least seven writers, researchers, and poets, as well as eleven environmental activists, have also reportedly been arbitrarily arrested. A Tehran-based writer and journalist told CHRI:

“The main issue for the authorities now is controlling the narrative of the massacre and killings. If a media activist with many social media followers tries to shed light on any aspect of these crimes, they face severe repression.

“Some booksellers who run small gatherings or organize cultural activities such as poetry sessions have also been arrested. I know of a bookstore whose owner was arrested simply for a single social media post, despite having a relatively large following on Instagram, and was held in detention for several weeks.”

Hundreds of Children Remain in Detention, At Least Two Could Face Death Penalty

Another alarming aspect of the recent arrests is the large-scale arrest of children and teenagers. HRANA reports that 555 children have been arrested so far, but statements by Iranian authorities confirm that actual numbers are significantly higher.

On February 15, Farshad Ebrahim-Pour, a member of Parliament and of the Parliament’s Education Commission, stated that “about 28 percent of those arrested were under the age of 20.” On February 17, 2026, Education Committee spokesperson Ehsan Azimi-Rad stated that approximately 17 percent of protest participants nationwide were teenagers, primarily students.

Although government officials claim many of the arrested children have been released, findings by CHRI show that arrests of minors continue, and families often remain uninformed of their children’s whereabouts for days.

According to the Coordination Council of Iranian Cultural and Educational Associations, schools have increasingly become sites of security intervention, with non-educational personnel and security forces entering classrooms to interrogate students.

Most alarmingly, concerns are growing over the possible imposition of death sentences on minors. On February 16, 2026, defense attorney Amir Raeisian warned that three detainees in Pakdasht, two of whom are minors—Matin Mohammadi and Erfan Amiri, both 17, and Ehsan Hosseinipour, 18—who are accused of allegedly setting fire to a mosque and causing the deaths of two Basij agents, could face capital punishment.

Lawyers Banned from Representing Protesters and Arrested

The judicial abuses flooding these cases are severe, indicating a judiciary that is tasked with continuing the work of the security forces. Numerous reports indicate trials are being conducted in an extraordinarily rushed manner, with serious charges brought against detainees without any semblance of due process or access to independent lawyers. Instead, defendants are represented by state-approved attorneys under the Note to Article 48 framework, which restricts defense in political or so-called national security cases to those lawyers.

Saeid Dehghan, a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer and director of the Parsi Law Collective, told CHRI that in protest-related cases, detainees are often completely denied access to independent counsel, not merely restricted, and that the authorities frequently refuse to recognize chosen lawyers, invoking the Note to Article 48, or simply block any lawyer from entering the case at all.

In several recent cases, Dehghan noted, verdicts were issued almost immediately after hearings. For example, in a case handled in Tehran, the notorious hardline Judge Salavati issued death sentences for seven protesters within 24 hours of the hearing, without meaningful access to defense or due process safeguards. Dehghan told CHRI:

“These practices indicate not isolated violations but a structural breakdown of the right to defense and judicial independence, amounting to a de facto collapse of fair-trial guarantees.”

Lawyers themselves have increasingly faced arrest and prosecution as well. According to the Council of Lawyers for a Democratic Iran, at least 19 lawyers have been arrested nationwide since the protests began, four of whom have been released on bail.

A human rights lawyer based in Iran, referring to the severe restrictions on lawyers at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad in the week following the killings in the city, told CHRI:

“The special entrance for lawyers was closed, and hundreds of people were gathered outside in the freezing cold, trying to find out about their children. The doors were completely shut, and only occasionally would someone from inside the courthouse come out and call names so families would know that their detained loved ones were there.”

Independent lawyers report that even when families formally appoint counsel of their choice, authorities routinely block their participation, maintaining control within Revolutionary Courts and severely violating due process protections. A lawyer based in southern Iran also highlighted the severe restrictions on independent lawyers, telling CHRI:

“Many lawyers who are not widely known and have not attracted particular attention—who have often worked quietly—are not allowed to enter protest-related cases. According to Note 2 of Article 348 of the Criminal Procedure Code, when a family selects a lawyer, the appointed lawyer is replaced, and the court-appointed lawyer is automatically excluded. Nonetheless, judges and officials in the Revolutionary Courts prevent many of our colleagues, who are designated by families as their chosen lawyers, from accessing these cases once they realize who they are.”

“The system is working exactly as designed,” said CHRI’s Aban. “Security bodies kill, abduct, and brutalize, and the courts launder that violence through prearranged convictions.”

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