Kermanshah: Arrest of 26 Kurdish Citizens in Kermanshah, Harsin, and Sarpol-e Zahab

January 2, 2026; in the continuation of the wave of arbitrary arrests of Kurdish citizens in Kermanshah province—aimed at imposing an atmosphere of suppression and security on society following the popular protests that began in January 2026—26 Kurdish citizens in the cities of Kermanshah, Harsin, and Sarpol-e Zahab were arrested by security forces over the past two days, and there is no information regarding their fate.

According to news received and confirmed by Kurdpa, at least 26 Kurdish citizens were arrested in Kermanshah province on January 1 and 2, 2026. These arrests include Kermanshah (11 people), Harsin (8 people), and Sarpol-e Zahab (7 people); the news of the arrest of 7 of those detained in Kermanshah was published by state media without revealing their identities. Among the detainees are a 17-year-old teenager and a civil and women's rights activist. Most of these individuals were arrested without the presentation of a judicial warrant and transferred to unknown locations.

The names of the detainees, categorized by city, are as follows:

Kermanshah (4 individuals):

On the evening of Thursday, January 1, 2026, "Younes Jamshidi," a Kurdish citizen from Kermanshah, was arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location.

On Thursday, January 1, 2026, "Milad Shirazi," a Kurdish citizen from Kermanshah, was arrested by security forces in the "Nobahar" neighborhood of Kermanshah and transferred to an unknown location.

On Thursday, January 1, 2026, "Navid Rostami," a Kurdish citizen from Kermanshah, was arrested by security forces in the "Dar Garaj" area of Kermanshah and transferred to an unknown location.

On Friday, January 2, 2026, Mahsa Zarei, a Kurdish civil and cultural activist from Kermanshah, was arrested by security forces at her family home without the presentation of a judicial warrant and transferred to an unknown location. This 33-year-old women's rights activist had previously been arrested on May 25, 2025.

7 arrests without identification by state media:

On December 2, 2025, state news agencies reported the arrest of 7 people in Kermanshah in connection with the protests, calling them "affiliated with hostile groups and the foreign-based opposition." These media outlets did not mention the names of these individuals, and there is no information regarding their fate.

Harsin (8 individuals):

On the evening of Thursday, January 1, 2026, "Rahman Azarang," a Kurdish citizen from Harsin in Kermanshah province, was arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location.

On the evening of Thursday, January 1, 2026, three Kurdish citizens from Harsin named "Sajjad Kakaei," "Shapur Rashidi," and "Mehdi Bali" were arrested by security forces and transferred to the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) detention center in Kermanshah.

On the evening of Thursday, January 1, 2026, a 17-year-old Kurdish teenager named "Mohammad-Mehdi Karami," from Harsin, was arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location.

On Friday, January 2, 2026, three Kurdish citizens named "Zahed Afshari," "Yousef Kakavand," and "Noureddin Mousazadeh" from Harsin were arrested by security forces and transferred to an unknown location.

Sarpol-e Zahab (7 individuals):

January 2, 2026; seven Kurdish citizens from Sarpol-e Zahab named "Mehdi Karimi," "Jabbar Jamshidi," "Ghaem Badri," "Masoud Aghaei," "Ahad Moradi," "Esfandiar Sarvari," and "Askar Najafi" were arrested by plainclothes security forces at "Chaharrah Mirahmad" under the pretext of the start of protests and transferred to an unknown location.

Until the publication of this news, no information is available regarding the reasons for the arrest or the fate of these Kurdish citizens, and security forces have provided no explanation in this regard.

It should be noted that in the Islamic Republic of Iran, political detainees are systematically deprived of the right to access a lawyer, the right to meet with their families, and even the right to make phone calls during the stages of arbitrary detention. In limited cases, under pressure and continuous follow-up by families, only calls lasting a few seconds are permitted; in Kurdistan, detainees are not even allowed to speak their mother tongue and are only permitted to state in Persian, in the presence of security forces, that "they are in detention and are doing well."

The January 2026 protests began on December 28, 2025, starting from the Grand Bazaar of Tehran, where merchants closed their shops in response to the fall of the Rial's value, high inflation, and the rising cost of basic goods; this strike quickly spread to street gatherings. In the following days, protests expanded to more than 10 to 15 cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, Shiraz, Karaj, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Ahvaz, Arak, Najafabad, Fooladshahr, Marlik, Izeh, Nurabad Mamasani, Fasa, Yazd, Zanjan, and Qom. The initial nature of the protests was economic and livelihood-based, but gradually in many cities, it turned into criticism of the government's macro-policies and slogans against the system and its leaders.