November 14, 2026; "Aref Nasiri," a Kurdish citizen from Abdanan in Ilam Province, a Gonabadi Dervish, and a civil activist who assisted injured protesters and sheltered several of them in his home during the January 2026 protests, was forced to leave Iran with his family in recent weeks following a raid on his home by the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Following his departure from the country, a judicial-security case was opened against him on charges related to "Starlink."

An informed source confirmed this news to Kurdpa, stating: At 3:00 AM on Tuesday, October 21, 2026, more than 10 security forces from the Abdanan IRGC Intelligence Department raided the family home of "Aref Nasiri" without presenting a judicial warrant, with the intention of arresting him. Upon realizing he was not at home, the security forces locked his wife and two daughters inside one of the rooms of the house and proceeded to search the premises. Without legal authorization, they confiscated "Aref Nasiri's" personal belongings, including his laptop, tablet, and Starlink device, taking them away.

The source told Kurdpa that the conduct of the IRGC Intelligence security forces toward "Mihan," Aref Nasiri's wife, and his two daughters, "Parmis and Parmida," was deeply insulting and inhumane. The security forces forced them into a room and subsequently locked the door from the outside.

According to this source, following this violent and unlawful action, in order to protect his own safety and that of his family, and to avoid arbitrary arrest and judicial sentences, "Aref Nasiri" was forced to leave Iran within the shortest possible time alongside his wife and daughters—without informing or bidding farewell to his extended family—and seek refuge in a neighboring country.

Following his forced departure from Iran, a judicial-security case was filed against him, and he was summoned to Branch 1 of the Investigation Bureau of the General and Revolutionary Public Prosecutor's Office of Ilam County on charges related to "buying and selling Starlink devices." The summons required him to present himself to the prosecutor's office within five days, by October 25, 2026.

"Aref Nasiri," a Kurdish citizen from Abdanan in Ilam Province and a Gonabadi Dervish, is a civil activist. During the January 2026 protests, he aided demonstrators who had been wounded during the crackdown and sheltered several of them in his home.

Gonabadi Dervishes, as one of the largest religious and mystical minorities in Iran, are deprived of the most basic legal protections due to not being recognized under Articles 12 and 13 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, and face systematic discrimination and repression. Over recent decades, this community has continuously been subjected to the demolition of Hosseiniyehs and places of worship, deprivation of education and employment in state institutions, the sealing of businesses, repeated summonses, arbitrary arrests, and fabricated security charges—a pattern that constitutes a clear violation of the right to freedom of religion and belief (Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and the prohibition of discrimination based on religious beliefs (Articles 2 and 26 of the same Covenant).