Details Regarding; The Killing of a Well-Known Photographer and His Family by Security Forces Shooting Mehdi Tavakoli, Maryam Aslani, and Somayeh Tavakoli
July 27, 2026 – Last evening, three members of a family, including "Mehdi Tavakoli," a well-known photographer from the city of Sanandaj, along with his mother "Maryam Aslani" and his sister "Somayeh Tavakoli," were killed during a shooting by security forces on a road route. Their bodies were handed over to the family under the title of "accident," while simultaneously the family was threatened to remain silent and refrain from disseminating information. State media have also remained silent about this incident so far. Mehdi Tavakoli previously had a history of summons, arrest, and conviction as a political prisoner.
An informed source told Kurdpa regarding details of this incident: On the evening of Sunday, July 26, 2026, the white Samand vehicle of "Mehdi Tavakoli," in which his mother "Maryam Aslani" and his sister "Somayeh Tavakoli" were accompanying him, was targeted by a hail of bullets by security forces from the Intelligence Department and the IRGC Intelligence Organization, killing all three members of this family. Following their killing, plainclothes forces from the Intelligence Department and IRGC Intelligence transferred the bodies to "Salahaddin Ayyubi" Hospital in the city of Baneh using two private Peugeot vehicles—such that the bodies of Mehdi and his mother were placed in the trunk of one vehicle and the body of Somayeh Tavakoli in the trunk of the other vehicle.
It remains unclear to Kurdpa whether this incident occurred on the route from the city of Marivan to the city of Sanandaj or from the city of Marivan to the city of Baneh, but what is established is that the incident took place on one of the road routes of the city of Marivan.
According to this source, while the bodies of these three individuals were at "Salahaddin Ayyubi" Hospital in the city of Baneh, they were secretly subjected to medical examination without recording identity details, without opening a case file, and without registering their names in the hospital, and no one was allowed to approach the bodies. Subsequently, IRGC security forces removed the bodies from the hospital and announced that they would bury them in "Soleyman Beg" Cemetery in the city of Baneh. This source states that the reason for transferring the bodies to the hospital in the city of Baneh was that Mehdi Tavakoli was a well-known figure in the city of Sanandaj and the city of Marivan, and the security forces intended to prevent their identification and public knowledge of this incident by transferring the bodies to the city of Baneh.
On the morning of Monday, July 27, 2026, the family was informed that these three individuals had died in a traffic accident. The source states that simultaneously and following inquiries by the family, IRGC Intelligence forces threatened and pressured them to remain silent, not pursue the matter, and refrain from reporting on this event.
So far, it has not been determined for Kurdpa exactly how this event occurred, but what is clear is that all bullets were fired from the front, and all three individuals were targeted from the front. According to this source, Mehdi Tavakoli was hit by three bullets, Maryam Aslani by two bullets, and Somayeh Tavakoli by multiple bullets, and her body and face were severely damaged.
The bodies of Mehdi Tavakoli, Maryam Aslani, and Somayeh Tavakoli were buried this morning, Monday, July 27, in "Behesht-e Mohammadi" Cemetery in the city of Sanandaj.
Up to the time of publishing this report, state media have remained silent about the killing of this well-known photographer and his family, publishing no news in this regard.
Mehdi Tavakoli;
Mehdi Tavakoli, a Kurdish photographer, photography instructor, and cultural activist, was born in 1989 in the city of Sanandaj. He began his professional activities in 2003 and played an effective role in developing photography culture in Kurdistan in the fields of documentary photography, artistic photography, and photography education. In addition to teaching at university and the Iranian Youth Cinema Society of Kurdistan, he was the CEO of Kurdistan Photographers House, director of the "Chaw" Art Complex, and artistic director of several photography festivals and exhibitions, being considered one of the well-known figures of contemporary photography in Kurdistan. In recent years, he organized several photo exhibitions on the topic of refugees from Shengal and Kobani in the Kurdistan Region, and through organizing photography competitions and exhibitions such as the Pomegranate Photo Group Exhibition, the Yalda Night Photo Group Exhibition, the Third Sanandaj Photo Festival, and other events related to social and human issues, he had become one of the well-known figures of contemporary photography in Kurdistan.
Mehdi Tavakoli Has a History of Multiple Summons, Arrests, and Convictions by Security Agencies;
Kurdpa had previously reported that Mehdi Tavakoli was arrested on February 14, 2023, without being presented with a judicial warrant by security forces and transferred to an unknown location.
Furthermore, in May 2020, he was summoned to the news headquarters of the Intelligence Department of the city of Sanandaj and interrogated about his activities.
Mehdi Tavakoli was also arrested by security forces on October 12, 2016, and after 35 days of interrogation at the detention center of the Intelligence Department of the city of Sanandaj, he was transferred to the central prison of this city. After some time, he was released on bail, and in July 2017, he was sentenced by Branch One of the Revolutionary Court of the city of Sanandaj on charges of "acting against national security" to 2 years of imprisonment, one year of which was discretionary. After serving his sentence, in November 2019, he was arrested again by security forces and was released on bail after one month.
