Iranian Ministry of Intelligence forces arrested four Kurdish women activists on 10 March reportedly linked to International Women’s Day events in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reported.

According to KHRN, Leyla Pashaei and Soheyla Motaei were arrested without warrants by intelligence agents in the cities of Saqqez and Dehgolan in Kurdistan Province and taken to an undisclosed location.

Intelligence agents also raided Soma Mohammad-Rezaei’s shop in Sanandaj’s Almas shopping centre, arrested her without a warrant and took her to a Ministry of Intelligence detention centre in the city.

Additionally, Ministry of Intelligence forces arrested Kurdish activist Baran Saedi without a warrant during a raid on her home in Sanandaj, and took her to an undisclosed location.

Previous arrests

Pashaei was previously arrested in Sanandaj on 23 September 2022 during the anti-government Women, Life, Freedom protests, and was later released on bail on 4 October 2022.

Motaei was also arrested twice during the same protests, on 1 October and 12 November 2022, before being released on bail several weeks later.

On 5 December 2022, the Second Criminal Court of Dehgolan sentenced her to 18 months in prison on charges of “disturbing public order”, 15 months for “propaganda against the state”, 13 months for “spreading false information to disturb public opinion”, nine months for “propaganda in favour of groups and organisations hostile to the state”, and five months for “resisting law enforcement”.

In February 2023, Motaei was sent to the women’s ward of the Juvenile Detention Centre of Sanandaj to serve her sentence but was later released under a judicial amnesty.

She was arrested again on 22 January 2025 during a general strike to protest against the death sentences handed down to Kurdish political prisoners Pakhshan Azizi and Verisheh (Wirishe) Moradi. She was released after several hours but faced new legal proceedings.

Mohammad-Rezaei has also faced repeated summonses and threats from security agencies in recent years due to her activism.

Meanwhile, Saedi was previously arrested on 20 September 2023 during the anti-government 'Woman, Life, Freedom' uprising in Sanandaj and was released on bail after approximately two months in detention.