The Islamic Republic of Iran is escalating its campaign of repression against ethnic minority populations by detaining children as young as 15 incommunicado, according to a new report by the New York–based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Over the past two weeks alone, at least 11 children have been arbitrarily arrested in Iran’s Kurdistan and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces, many following violent home raids carried out without warrants.
The detained children—most between the ages of 15 and 17—have been transferred to undisclosed locations with no official acknowledgment of their detention, no legal justification, and no contact with their families. Rights advocates warn the children face severe risks, including torture, ill-treatment, and denial of medical care.
“Detaining children without charge, holding them incommunicado, and denying them access to their families and lawyers is not law enforcement. It is abduction,” said Bahar Ghandehari, CHRI’s Director of Advocacy. “These are enforced disappearances under international law, and they must be treated as crimes that demand urgent global action.”
Kurdistan: Night Raids Without Warrants
The majority of the cases have been reported in Kurdistan Province, where coordinated raids by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry agents have resulted in the detention of at least nine boys. Families describe early-morning arrests, with security forces storming homes and taking children away without explanation.
On September 7, 15-year-old Oraz Zamani and 16-year-old Behrouz Rashidi were arrested in Kamyaran. One week later, two more 17-year-olds, Soran Mozaffari and Payam Hosseini, were taken; Mozaffari reportedly suffers from diabetes and requires insulin injections. In another dawn raid on September 17, security forces arrested brothers Ehsan and Kavan Sabouri, both 17. Similar raids in Oshnavieh on September 18 and 19 led to the detention of three more teenagers: Diyar Gorgool, Alan Tabnak, and 16-year-old Zaniar Shadikhah.
“The most concerning issue is the families’ complete lack of information about where their children are being held,” one source told CHRI. “Many families do not even know which judicial or security authority they should approach.”
Sistan and Baluchistan: Children Disappear Amid Rising Tensions
Parallel arrests have taken place in Sistan and Baluchistan Province, where plainclothes security forces detained at least two 17-year-olds earlier this month.
On September 9, bakery worker Omar Safarzayi was violently taken from his workplace in Zahedan. The next day, security forces stormed the home of 17-year-old Abdollah Azizi in Qasr-e Qand. Both remain missing, with no official acknowledgment of their detention.
Sources in the province link the crackdown to the upcoming anniversary of “Bloody Friday”—the September 30, 2022 massacre in Zahedan, when security forces killed over 100 protesters during the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising. Authorities fear the anniversary could reignite mass protests, especially amid worsening economic conditions and heightened tensions after Israel’s recent strike inside Iran.
“There’s no doubt that the number of children under 18 who have been arrested in recent months is higher than the cases that have been publicly reported,” said one activist, noting that Baluch children already face systemic discrimination and heavy militarization of their communities.
Systematic Violations of Children’s Rights
The detentions highlight Iran’s long record of violating international treaties protecting children, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Tehran ratified but reserves the right to interpret under Islamic law.
Iran remains one of the world’s few countries to execute juvenile offenders and continues to detain children in adult prisons. During the 2022–2023 protests, hundreds of schoolchildren were arrested and subjected to torture and sexual abuse in custody, according to UN reports.
By denying children contact with their families, concealing their whereabouts, and detaining them without legal process, Iran is also violating the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
“These arrests are part of a systematic campaign of repression designed to instill fear and crush dissent in Iran’s most vulnerable communities,” said Ghandehari. “Families in Iran desperately seeking information about their children are powerless in the face of a system that threatens retaliation for even asking where their children are. They need international voices to speak where theirs have been silenced.”
Calls for Urgent International Action
CHRI has urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, and specialized rapporteurs to immediately investigate and condemn these detentions. The organization is calling for the immediate release of all juveniles held without due process and for targeted sanctions against Iranian judicial and intelligence officials involved.
The group has also called on UNICEF to directly engage with Iranian authorities to address the unlawful detentions and to ensure that any detained minors are held in juvenile facilities, separate from adult prisoners.
Rights experts warn that unless urgent action is taken, Iran risks normalizing the practice of child disappearances as a tool of political repression—a precedent with dire implications for the country’s future generations.
