See main article: article and Mahsa Amini protests. This list reports the notable citizens, civil and political activists, students, journalists, lawyers and athletes who have been arrested in Iran during the ongoing protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. There is no clear information about the whereabouts and the situation of many of them.
The arrests come on top of severe internet restrictions and blocking of apps including Instagram and WhatsApp, which activists say is aimed at preventing details of the protests from reaching the outside world.[1] [2]
This list is organized in alphabetic order of the surnames.
| Detainee | Date of arrest | Date of release | Location | Circumstances | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Elham Afkari | 10 November | Elham Afkari, Navid Afkari's sister, was arrested on 10 November 2022 and charged with being an agent of Iran International, the opposition television broadcaster which was recently called a “terrorist” organization by the Iranian intelligence minister. She is in the custody of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence.[3] | |||
| 2 | Taraneh Alidoosti | 17 December | 4 January 2023 | Leading Iranian actor. Earlier in November she had posted a picture of herself on Instagram without the mandatory hijab to show support for Woman, Life, Freedom and the Mahsa Amini protests. She was arrested on December 17 after security forces searched her house.[4] She was later released on 4 January 2023, after posting bail which was reported to be around £20,000.[5] | ||
| 2 | Mona Borzouei | 28 September | Poet and songwriter. Security forces arrested Borzouee on 28 September 2022, during Mahsa Amini protests, for statements she had made on her Twitter account.[6] [7] [8] | |||
| 3 | 26 September | Tehran | Human rights activist, former political prisoner and wife of Arash Sadeghi. She was arrested by security forces in her house and taken to an undisclosed location.[9] | |||
| 4 | 20 November | — | Actress. She was arrested for "provocative" social media posts and media activity. She had expressed solidarity with the protest movement and removed her headscarf in public.[10] [11] | |||
| 5 | 29 September | Singer and songwriter. He was arrested on 29 September for his song Baraye which has been described as "the anthem" of the protests and later released on bail.[12] | ||||
| 6 | 21 September | Journalist who broke the news of Mahsa Amini's treatment by the morality police.[13] | ||||
| 7 | Late September | — | Women's rights activist and politician. She was arrested in late September 2022.[14] | |||
| 8 | 3 October | Evin Prison | Women's rights activist. She was arrested by security forces in Tehran on 11 October. After eight days of detention she informed her family in a phone call that she was in the ward 209 of Evin prison and did not know the reason for her arrest, nor the charges against her.[15] | |||
| 9 | 29 September | Tehran | Footballer and a member of the Iran national football team in 2006. He was arrested for voicing solidarity and support with the Iranian people during the protests on social media.[16] | |||
| 10 | 5 October | Blogger, lecturer and internet activist known as Jadi. Security forces raided his house and arrested him without showing an arrest warrant.[17] [18] [19] [20] | ||||
| 11 | 29 September | Journalist who reported on Mahsa Amini's funeral. According to her lawyer, Mohammad Ali Kamfiroozi, Mohammadi was summoned by the judicial authorities but was then arrested by security forces on 29 September 2022 while on her way to the Ministry of Intelligence office for questioning.[21] | ||||
| 12 | 29 November | Actress. She was one of the first celebrities who took off her hijab amidst the nationwide protests and in support of the people. Security forces arrested her in her villa in the suburbs of Qazvin. Her arrest took place about two months after the security officers' attempt to arrest her in her house, but according to reports she had managed to escape in time.[22] | ||||
| 13 | 29 September | Football player from Shabad and a member of the Tractor team. He was detained by the security forces in Tehran and transferred to Evin Prison.[23] | ||||
| 14 | 24 September | Blogger, human rights activist and political dissident. He was arrested along with his lawyers by security agents in front of the Evin Prosecutor's Office and transferred to Evin prison where he was tortured and both of his legs broken.[24] He has been on hunger strike since his arrest and in spite of life-threatening deterioration of his health, prison officials refuse to dispatch him to the hospital for medical care. In a statement from Evin Prison, imprisoned filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof warned about the serious deterioration of Ronaghi's health and said that he is in danger of having a stroke any minute after fifty days of hunger strike.[25] | ||||
| 15 | 12 October | Iranian activist and former political prisoner. He was arrested on 12 October and taken to Evin Prison.[26] According to his father Arash is suffering from chondrosarcoma and the prison is denying him his special medication and not allowing the family to deliver them to the prison either. Due to his illness he has to take a special blood test and have his bone tissues scanned every month, so the continuation of detention is very harmful for aggravating his illness.[27] | ||||
| 16 | 30 October | — | Iranian hip hop artist mostly known for his protest songs.[28] [29] Fars News Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, described him as one of "the leaders of the riots who promoted violence."[30] | |||
| 17 | Fatemeh Sepehri | 21 September | Civil rights activist and former political prisoner. She was arrested and taken to the solitary confinement at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence center after security agents raided her house. She was previously sentenced to prison due to her peaceful activities.[31] [32] | |||
| 18 | 23 September | Tehran | Human rights activist and political prisoner. His brother Mohsen Tavakoli announced his arrest on Twitter and reported that the security forces came into the house at night by creating panic and took his brother away.[33] | |||
| 19 | Mahmood Shahriari | 28 September | Tehran | Radio and Television presenter.[34] | ||
| 20 | Dariush Farhood | — | Tehran | 85-year-old professor of medical and clinical genetics is known as the father of Iran's genetics.[35] | ||
| 21 | Hamidreza Aliasgari | — | Tehran | Footballer and a member of the Iran national football team from 2006 to 2011. He was arrested for supporting the Iranian people during the protests on social media.[36] | ||
| 22 | Mohammadreza Jalaeipour | — | Evin Prison | Sociologist and political activist.[37] | ||
| 23 | Milad Nouri | 4 October | Tehran | Developer, digital rights and Internet freedom activist. | ||
| 24 | Adel Talebi | September | Fashafooyeh Prison | Digital marketer and digital activist who has been arrested by security forces in Tehran. | ||
| 25 | Aryan Eqbal | 4 October | Tehran | Network engineer and Internet freedom activist arrested in Tehran. | ||
| 26 | Mohsen Tahmasebi | Shiraz | Cyber Security activist. | |||
| 27 | Neda Naji | 2 October | — | Labor activist Neda Naji was arrested.[38] | ||
| 28 | Pouran Nazemi | 19 October | — | Iranian Human rights activist.[39] | ||
| 29 | Nik Yousefi | 16 October | Tehran | Security forces arrested photographer and filmmaker Nik Yousefi and transferred him to an unidentified location.[40] | ||
| 30 | Marzieh Amiri | — | Tehran | Iranian journalist[41] [42] | ||
| 31 | Yalda Moaiery | 19 September | Tehran | Iranian security forces arrested Moaiery, a prominent photojournalist, as she was covering anti-state protests on Hejab street in downtown Tehran[43] [44] [45] | ||
| 32 | Nazila Maroufian | — | Tehran | Iranian journalist [46] [47] | ||
| 33 | Kianoush Sanjari | 13 November | Tehran | Iranian journalist[48] | ||
| 34 | Iman Behpasand | 22 September | Tehran | Iranian journalist[49] [50] | ||
| 35 | Ruhollah Nakhaee | 23 September | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 36 | Alireza Khoshbakht | 23 September | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 37 | Zahra Tohidi | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 38 | Mojtaba Rahimi | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 39 | Majid Tavakoli | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 40 | Marzieh Talaee | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 41 | Masoud Kordpour | 20 September | Bukan | Iranian journalist | ||
| 42 | Hamed Shafiei | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 43 | Sarvenaz Ahmadi | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 44 | Kamiar Fakour | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 45 | Elmira Bahmani | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 46 | Mehrnoosh Tafian | 28 September | Ahvaz | Iranian journalist | ||
| 47 | Farshid Ghorbanpour | 25 September | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 48 | Javad Shaker | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 49 | Alireza Jabbari-Darestani | 25 September | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 50 | Siavash Soleimani | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 51 | Ali Khatibzadeh | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 52 | Fardin Kamangar | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 53 | Mohammad Zare-Foumani | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 54 | Saba Sherdoost | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 55 | Milad Fadaei-Asl | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 56 | Mandana Sadeghi | 19 October | Abadan | Iranian journalist | ||
| 57 | Reza Mohammadi | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 58 | Amir Ebtehaj | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 59 | Farzaneh Yahya-Abadi | 19 October | Abadan | Iranian journalist | ||
| 60 | Farkhondeh Ashori | 17 October | Shiraz | Iranian journalist | ||
| 61 | Navid Jamshidi | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 62 | Hossein Esmaeili | 12 October | Sabzevar | Photo journalist | ||
| 63 | Marzieh Amiri | 31 October | Iranian journalist | |||
| 64 | Ehsan Pirbornash | between 22 and 28 November | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 65 | Saeedeh Fathi | 16 October | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 66 | Vahid Shamseddin-Nejad | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 67 | Yaghma Fashkhami | 2 November | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 68 | Vahid Shademan | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 69 | Porya Mahdavi-Moghddam | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 70 | Nazila Maroufian | 30 October | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 71 | Saman Ghazali | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 72 | Malihe Darki | 26 October | Abadan | Iranian journalist | ||
| 73 | Nasrin Hassani | 30 September | Bojnourd | Iranian journalist | ||
| 74 | Somayeh Masror | Iranian journalist | ||||
| 75 | Omid Tahan-Bidhendi | 4 October | Tehran | Iranian journalist | ||
| 76 | Samaneh Asghari | 11 October | Qarchak Perison | Student of industrial engineering at Khawarzami University and an activist women and children's rights activist.[51] | ||
| 77 | Leila Mirghaffari | 16 September | Tehran | Human Rights Activists[52] | ||
| 78 | Faranak Rafiei | 18 September | Sanandaj | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 79 | Ribvar Kamranipour | 19 September | Marivan | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 80 | Amjad Saedi | 19 September | Marivan | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 81 | Mahrizan Ahmadi | 20 September | Sanandaj | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 82 | Baran Saedi | arrested between 17 and 21 September | Sanandaj | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 83 | Mahrou Hedayati | arrested between 17 and 21 September | Sanandaj | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 84 | Azadeh Jama’ati | arrested between 17 and 21 September | Sanandaj | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 85 | Bahar Zangiband | arrested between 17 and 21 September | Sanandaj | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 86 | Siroos Abbasi | 22 September | Dehgolan | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 87 | Azad Abbasi | 22 September | Dehgolan | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 88 | Fatemeh Sepehri | 22 September | Mashhad | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 89 | Majid Tavakoli | 23 September | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 90 | Bahareh Hedayat | 3 October | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 91 | Hossein Masoumi | 3 October | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 92 | Hossein Sarbandi | 3 October | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 93 | Saeed Shirzad | 3 October | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 94 | Ali Shirzad | 3 October | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 100 | Neda Naji | 2 October | Tehran | Human Rights Activists | ||
| 101 | Leila Abbasi | 21 September | Bijar (city) | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 102 | Jafar Valadkhan | 21 September | Bijar (city) | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 103 | Ms. Ghelichkhani | 21 September | Bijar (city) | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 104 | Mohammad Reza Nosrati | 21 September | Bijar (city) | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 105 | Melika Kavand | 21 September | Bijar (city) | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 106 | Mozaffar Salehnia | 21 September | Sanandaj | Free Workers Union of Iran board member | ||
| 107 | Shadi Aslani | 21 September | Sanandaj | Teacher | ||
| 108 | Reza Sharifeh | 21 September | Sanandaj | Retired teachers | ||
| 109 | Mohammad Karam Zamani | 27 September | Bijar (city) | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 110 | Davoud Razavi | 27 September | Tehran | Bus trade union official | ||
| 111 | Kamran Sakhtemangar | 29 September | Saqqez | Labor activist | ||
| 112 | Mohammad Aref Jahangiri | 1 October | Sanandaj | Retired teacher | ||
| 113 | Shahram Azmoudeh | 2 October | Talesh | Teachers’ Rights Activist / journalist | ||
| 114 | Mohammad Saeid Boueshagh | 2 October | Lordegan | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 115 | Hesam Mehdizadeh | 29 September | Kamyaran | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 116 | Edris Mehdizadeh | 29 September | Kamyaran | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 117 | Farzin Movafaghi | 29 September | Kamyaran | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 118 | Khabas Mozaffari | 29 September | Kamyaran | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 119 | Bahram Yaghobi | 3 October | Tabriz | Teachers’ Rights Activist | ||
| 120 | Mansoureh Mousavi | 20 September | Mashhad | Author/Women's Rights Activist | ||
| 121 | Karamollah Soleimani | 21 September | Gachsaran County | Author/Theater director | ||
| 122 | Mojgan Kavousi | 23 September | Nowshahr | Former prisoner of conscience/research | ||
| 123 | Banafsheh Kamali | 24 September | Yazd, central Iran | Poet | ||
| 124 | Morvarid Ayaz | 30 September | Rasht | Sociologist | ||
| 125 | Zahra Savarian | 3 October | Abadan, Iran | Poet | ||
| 126 | Atefeh Chaharmahalian | 3 October | (city unknown) | Poet, former board member of the Iranian Writers Association | ||
| 127 | Golshin Mohammadian | between 17 and 21 September | Sanandaj | Filmmaker/Rights activist | ||
| 128 | Farhad Sanandaji | 21 September | Sanandaj | Filmmaker/Rights activist | ||
| 129 | Mahnaz Mohammadi | 19 September | Tehran | Filmmaker/Women Rights activist | ||
| 130 | Amir Gholami | 21 September | Tabriz | Filmmaker/Rights activist | ||
| 131 | Mohammad Siamaknia | 24 September | Tabriz | Documentary Filmmaker/Rights activist | ||
| 132 | Sara Saniei | 25 September | Tehran | Sculptor | ||
| 133 | Peyman Mirzazadeh | 26 September | Tehran | Singer/former prisoner of conscience | ||
| 134 | Sepideh Salarvand | 2 October | Tehran | Filmmaker/Rights activist | ||
| 135 | Toktam Akhundzadeh | 30 September | Tehran | Female former national row team member | ||
| 136 | Farideh Moradkhani | 23 November | Tehran | Niece of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and daughter of the late Ali Tehrani, a Shia Islamic theologian, writer, and opposition figure.[53] | ||
| 137 | Voria Ghafouri | 24 November | Tehran | Professional soccer player[54] | ||
| 138 | Reza Asadabadi | 23 November | Labor Journalist | |||
| 139 | Adel Karimi | 11 October | Mahabad | Photo Journalist | ||
| 140 | Vida Rabbani | 24 September | Tehran | Journalist | ||
| 141 | Aria Jafari | 25 September | Isfahan | Photo Journalist | ||
| 142 | Fahimeh Nazari | 3 November | Tehran | Journalist | ||
| 143 | Mehdi Amirpour | 27 November | Tehran | Sports Journalist | ||
| 144 | Hashem Moazenzadeh | 21 September | Tehran | Media Activist | ||
| 145 | Maryam Vahidian | 27 November | Labor Journalist, arrested on her birthday | |||
| 146 | Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi | 15 December | 9 January, 2023 | Shiraz | Advocate and civil rights activist[55] | |
| 147 | Mehdi Bahman | 11 October | Tehran | Storyteller, illustrator and researcher in the field of approximation of religions. Arrested following a public interview with Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation and was sentenced to death by the Islamic Revolutionary Court.[56] | ||
| 148 | Elnaz Mohammadi | 5 February 2023 | 11 February 2023 | Tehran | Iranian journalist and former social group secretary of The Ham-Mihan newspaper. She and her twin sister Elaheh Mohammadi were arrested by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during Mahsa Amini protests.[57] | |
| 149 | Donya Rad | 30 September | Tehran | Iranian social media activist and script supervisor who was arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Mahsa Amini protests for published a photo of herself and another girl without a hijab eating breakfast in a coffee shop in the south of Tehran.[58] | ||
| 150 | Negin Bagheri | September 2023 | Tehran | Bagheri and Elnaz Mohammadi were arrested by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Mahsa Amini protests for "assembly and collusion" and "conspiracy".[59] | ||
| 151 | Hamid Pourazari | 22 November | Tehran | theatre director, actor and playwright who was arrested by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during thne Mahsa Amini protests for publishing a video appeared on Soheila Golestani's Instagram page. In it, she, along with several actors including theater director Pourazari and others, appeared without hijabs.[60] | ||
| 152 | Eshragh Najafabadi | October 2022 | 6 February 2023 | Shiraz | athlete and a former member of Iran's national Mountain Bike team. He was arrested during the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran. He was accused of participation in the 2022 Shah Cheragh attack. He was released after three months of detention.[61] | |
| 153 | Elham Modarresi | 2 November | January 2023 | Karaj | Iranian painter and political prisoner. She was arrested on November 2, 2022 by the Islamic Republic of Iran's security agents raiding her house and was transferred to Kechoui prison in Karaj. Modarresi claimed she was subjected to torture to obtain a forced confession and was denied medical treatment for a genetic liver disorder. Modarresi was released in January 2023.[62] | |
| 154 | Mahan Sadrat | Between 12 October and 3 November | Tehran | He was accused of Muharebeh and sentenced to death. His death sentence was overturned by the lower court on December 24, 2023.[63] | ||
| 155 | Soheila Golestani | 22 November | 11 December | Tehran | Iranian actress and voice actor. In the Mahsa Amini protests a video of Golestani was published in which she appeared with several other actors without a hijab in front of the camera. This protest movement was later repeated with the same form and style by other groups of Iranian and foreign artists. Following the release of this video and its widespread coverage, Golestani and Hamid Pourazari were arrested on November 22, 2022.[64] |