Reports from the past Week on Workers’ Struggles and Other Protest Movements in Iran, by Hayat Almasi and Evin Rezaei – June 2025

Reports from the past week on workers’ struggles and other protest movements. Produced and edited by: Hayat Almasi and Evin Rezaei, Workers Communist Party of Iran (Hekmatist)

Massive wave of arbitrary arrests [in Iran] follows escalating tensions between Iran and Israel

Following the continued military tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Israel, informed sources from inside the country report the beginning of a new wave of arbitrary arrests by security agencies. Over the past few days, at least 150 citizens have been arrested in various parts of Iran on charges such as “spying for Mossad,” “media support for Israel,” and “disturbing public opinion . ”

These individuals are mainly social media users, media activists, ordinary citizens, and some cultural figures who have been targeted by security measures simply for expressing opinions or publishing content online. According to published reports, many of the arrests have been made without a legal warrant, without informing their families, and without access to a lawyer .

In some cases, detainees are also said to be pressured to make televised confessions or cooperate with security forces. This process, using methods such as solitary confinement, threats, and deprivation of basic rights, has raised serious concerns about widespread human rights violations in Iran .

In addition to these arrests, reports have been published about the issuance of harsh sentences, including executions, to some political and ideological prisoners, which has increased the atmosphere of insecurity and anxiety among the prisoners’ families.

18 teenage girls briefly detained in Mahabad for social media activity

On Tuesday, June 17, 2025 , officers from the Mahabad Intelligence Department arrested at least 18 girls under the age of 18 on charges of publishing material related to the war between Israel and the Islamic Republic on social media. After several hours of interrogation and the filing of a legal case, the teenagers were temporarily released on bail.

Ali Younesi kidnapped from Evin Prison to an unknown location

Aida Younesi, the sister of Ali Younesi, an elite student at Sharif University and political prisoner, announced on her X social media account on Wednesday, June 18, 2021 , that mercenaries of the Ministry of Intelligence had forcibly kidnapped her brother from Ward 4 of Evin Prison and transferred him to an unknown location.

Expressing great concern, he wrote: “My mother is in a state of anxiety. We don’t know where they have taken Ali.”

Aida described this action as “impudence” and a sign of the regime’s “anger and complexes” against political prisoners.

Ali Younesi, a gold medalist in the World Astronomy Olympiad and a computer engineering student at Sharif University, has been arrested since April 2020 , along with Amir Hossein Moradi, on trumped-up charges of “associating with the People’s Mojahedin (MEK) ” and “corruption on earth,” and was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2022. The two students have been repeatedly subjected to physical and psychological torture, including beatings and threats of execution, in order to force confessions.

Violent arrest of Amin Saadoui on the streets of Khoy city by security forces

On Tuesday, June 17, 2015, Amin Saadoui, 43 years old and a native of Tarimish village in the Qatour area of Khoy city, was arrested in a violent and humiliating manner on one of the streets of Khoy city following a raid by dozens of plainclothes officers of the Islamic Republic regime .

According to reports and eyewitness testimony, during the arrest of this citizen, security officers brutally beat him, tortured him in the street, and used obscene language. The severity of this violent behavior was such that it caused great fear and concern among the family and the people of the area.

More than 24 hours after his arrest, there is still no information about his whereabouts or the charges against him. Security agencies are also refusing to respond to his family.

This action comes at a time when the atmosphere of repression in the Kurdistan region has once again intensified, and the fact that such violence remains unaddressed has raised serious questions about the human rights situation in the country.

Uninformed arrest and secret transfer; complete ignorance of Yasin Namjoo’s condition

Yasin Namjoo, a political activist and one of those arrested during the nationwide protests of November 2019, was arrested on Sunday, June 16, 2025, by security forces affiliated with the Gachsaran Intelligence Department. According to reports, he was immediately transferred to Yasuj without any official notification after his arrest.

Several days after his arrest, there is still no official or transparent information about the reasons for his arrest, his whereabouts, or his current condition. His family and loved ones are in complete ignorance, and concerns about his physical and mental health are growing.

This arrest comes at a time when security clashes with political and civil activists in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, especially in smaller cities like Gachsaran, are a common occurrence. The repetition of such incidents has undermined public trust in the transparency of responsible institutions and has once again brought the debate about the rights of detainees back to the forefront of discussions.

The re-arrest of Tohid Amiramini by security forces in Ardabil

On Tuesday, June 17, 2025, security officers raided the home of Tohid Amiramini, a national civil activist and former political prisoner, arrested him without a warrant, and transferred him to a detention center in Ardabil province. After entering in plain clothes and climbing over the wall of the house, the officers confiscated his belongings, including his cell phone.

Despite the family’s follow-up, there is still no information about his whereabouts or the charges brought against him.

Amiramini has a history of being arrested, tried, and imprisoned several times before. In 2019, he was sentenced to 7 and a half years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion.” With the sentence reduced, he served part of the sentence and was released in February 2022. In January 2024 , he was summoned to the Ardabil Prosecutor’s Office to be re-indicted, and his case was referred to the Revolutionary Court .

The re-arrest of this civil activist comes in the wake of the ongoing pressure and suppression of the voices of critics and civil activists in Iran .

Death sentence issued for three juvenile defendants in Zahedan

Three juvenile defendants from Sistan and Baluchestan, Mohammad Darwish Naroei, Yasin Kabadani, and Benjamin Kohkan (born 2007), were sentenced to death by the Zahedan so-called court on charges of war and corruption on earth.

The trial of these three people was held on June 16, 1404, in the Zahedan Court of Appeals, and after the verdict was issued, they were returned to the quarantine ward of Zahedan Central Prison. They are still deprived of contact with their families .

Yasin Qabadani was previously arrested in October 2023 for participating in the Zahedan protests and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Benjamin Kohkan, a 16- year-old teenager, and Mohammad Darwish Naroui were also arrested in January 2022 during the protests .

Depriving these defendants of a lawyer and basic rights during the arrest and trial process is a clear violation of the principles of fair trial and contrary to Articles 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Islamic regime’s own Criminal Procedure Code .

Soheila Mutaei, a female activist in Dehgolan, sentenced to a suspended prison sentence

Soheila Mata’i, a civil rights activist in the field of women’s rights and one of the detainees of the March 8th rally in Dehgolan this year, who was also active during the nationwide protests of 1401 , has been sentenced by the judiciary to three months of imprisonment and three years of suspended prison .

Netblocks: the internet is completely cut off in Iran

Netblocks, which monitors internet access around the world, wrote on June 18: ” Live data shows that the nationwide internet in Iran has been almost completely shut down. This follows several previous minor disruptions and comes amid military tensions with Israel following days of reciprocal missile attack.

We are publishing this translation as part of a series documenting some dissident and alternative views on the conflict from social movements in Iran and its region. Documentation ≠ endorsement! READ THE ORIGINAL