Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 16, 2025: After the violent crackdown on the seventh-day memorial ceremony for human rights lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, 25 civil activists remain in custody. The health of some detainees, including Pouran Nazemi and Aliyeh Motalebzadeh, is a cause for serious concern.
Iran Human Rights condemns the arrests and calls for all charges against those detained to be dropped and for the immediate release.
IHRNGO Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “The mass arrest of human rights defenders shows the authorities’ fear of any peaceful gathering and civic solidarity. These arbitrary detentions must be unequivocally condemned by the international community. We also stress the urgent need to immediately establish an independent and impartial commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding Khosrow Alikordi’s death.”
According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, more than 30 civil rights activists were violently arrested at the seventh-day memorial service for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi in Mashhad on 12 December. Within hours, the Mashhad prosecutor’s office announced that 39 people had been detained. Some were later released on bail, but at least 25 remain in custody, some of whom suffer from serious health conditions.
The arrests were carried out by the police and Ministry of Intelligence but the majority of the detainees are now reportedly in the custody of the Ministry of Intelligence. Their exact whereabouts remain unknown.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human rights lawyer who travelled to Mashhad for the ceremony, told BBC Persian that her efforts to identify the agency holding Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammad and the other detainees have so far been unsuccessful.
An informed source told IHRNGO: “Pouran Nazemi suffers from acute heart disease. She suffered a cardiac arrest last year and was resuscitated. Her life is at risk in detention. Aliyeh Motalebzadeh also suffers from breast cancer, and detention conditions are extremely dangerous for her. Narges Mohammadi herself was beaten with batons during her arrest and, due to underlying illnesses, is in a worrying condition.”
The source added: “Heidar Chah Chamandi was also beaten during his arrest and received 14 stitches to his head. Javad Jalali, who has an intellectual disability, was severely beaten as well. Another detainee, Zahra Sharifi, has suffered a fractured skull.”
Names of some of the civil rights activists who remain in custody: Ali Adinehzadeh, Abolfazl Abri, Hasti Amiri, Mohammadreza Babaei, Kamal Jafar Yazdi, Javad Jalali Ghomsari(detained despite intellectual disability), Heidar Chah Chamandi (Soroush), Hamed Hosseini, Noura Haghi, Mahmoud Khanali, Amir Khavari, Mohammad Mahdi, Hamed Rasoulkhani, Mehdi Rasoulkhani, Hamed Zare, Mohammad Zanganeh (arrested today), Sharifi (arrested today), Javad Alikordi, Milad Fattah, Reza Gharehbaghi, Sepideh Gholian, Hossein Mohebbi, Narges Mohammadi, Aliyeh Motalebzadeh, Pouran Nazemi, Taybeh Nazari,and Amin Vosoughinia.