Harsin; Detention of Ehsan Rostami’s Father and Sister; Fate of Kurdish Cultural Activists Remains Unknown

October 21, 2025; Two months after the arbitrary detention of Ehsan and Ramin Rostami, Ehsan’s father and sister, Jahangir and Parnia Rostami, have also been detained. Ehsan, who has been on a liquid hunger strike for over three weeks, informed his family in his last contact that interrogators had threatened to arrest his parents. Simultaneously, the Instagram page "Family of Ehsan and Ramin Rostami" has ceased activity, and its content has been deleted.

According to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations; on the morning of Friday, October 17, 2025, Jahangir Rostami, a retired teacher from Harsin, Kermanshah, was violently arrested following a raid by security forces on his home in Harsin. He was beaten during the arrest and transferred to the Kermanshah Intelligence Administration detention center. Subsequently, the family learned through the Kermanshah Prosecutor's Office that he had been transferred to Evin Prison in Tehran, yet no information regarding his fate is available. Jahangir Rostami is the father of Ehsan Rostami, a cultural activist in the publishing field.

The Emtedad news outlet also reported on October 20, 2025, the detention of two members of the Rostami family. It stated that Ehsan Rostami, who has been on a liquid hunger strike for approximately three weeks, reported in his last phone call that interrogators threatened to arrest his parents; a threat that was carried out days later with the arrest of his father, "Jahangir Rostami," and his sister, "Parnia Rostami." Simultaneously, the Instagram page "Family of Ehsan and Ramin Rostami," which published updates on the status of these two prisoners, has been deactivated and all its posts removed.

Ramin and Ehsan Rostami, two Kurdish cultural activists from Harsin, Kermanshah, who are cousins, have been detained in Ward 209 of Evin Prison since August 20, 2025, and have remained in a state of uncertainty for over 63 days. They have been deprived of the right to make phone calls, receive visits, or access a lawyer. In protest of their arbitrary detention, they began a liquid hunger strike on October 6, 2025. Despite repeated visits to the Evin Prosecutor's Office, their families have received no answers and have expressed deep concern for their children's health.

The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations, in publishing the news of Jahangir Rostami's arrest, stated: "Applying pressure on the families of prisoners to extract forced confessions is contrary to legal and humanitarian standards," and demanded the release of this retired teacher.

Furthermore, the Harsin Teachers' Association issued a statement on October 21, 2025, condemning the violent arrest of Jahangir Rostami by security forces on October 17, 2025, and his transfer to Evin Prison. It also noted that his son, Ehsan Rostami, along with several other cultural activists, has been imprisoned in Evin since August 20. The association described these arrests and the pressure on families to extract forced confessions as a violation of human rights and a sign of systematic state violence, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Jahangir Rostami.

Full Text of the Statement by the Harsin Teachers’ Association Condemning the Detention of Retired Teacher Jahangir Rostami:

"Violence is the observer of its own corpse.

On October 17, 2025, security forces raided the home of Jahangir Rostami in Harsin, arresting him with violent behavior and transferring him to the Kermanshah Intelligence Administration. According to the ambiguous response given to his family, he has been transferred to Tehran and Evin Prison.

This occurs while his son, Ehsan Rostami, along with four other activists in the publishing field, was arrested in Tehran on August 20, 2025, and is imprisoned in Evin, having refused to confess to the baseless charges brought against him.

Pressuring the families of prisoners to extract forced confessions is an anti-human act, contrary to legal standards, and a clear sign of the ruling power's systematic violence and the collapse of the policies of the judicial and security apparatuses. Using every inhumane tool, they attempt to create fear and prevent solidarity among the oppressed people to advance their failed political goals both domestically and abroad.

The Harsin Teachers' Association, with knowledge and awareness of the political, economic, cultural, and security conditions of society, declares: This normalized, yet declining, routine of medieval suppression and violence grants no legitimacy to political and security structures and will not make the people regret choosing a rational path to restrain the sovereign's repressive power.

We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Jahangir Rostami, a member of the Harsin Teachers' Association, and we will spare no effort alongside the esteemed family of this dear educator until his release.

Harsin Teachers' Association October 21, 2025"