Detained human rights defenders must be released amid escalating hostilities in Iran
Front Line Defenders calls for the release of human rights defenders unjustly detained in Iran and for an end to the hostilities ahead of the festivity times in the Middle East, especially Nowrouz in Iran.
20 March marks Nowrouz, the Persian New Year, for many people in Middle East and Iran. However, the escalating war since 28 February 2026 has displaced millions in Iran and Lebanon and has claimed hundreds of lives across the region, including health workers, civilians, and children. Since the beginning of the war, the internet in Iran has been shut down and the Gulf States have further restricted freedom of expression. In Iran, at least three human rights defenders and journalists have been arrested among hundreds of cases of arbitrary detention and disappearances. Iranian state media has reported at least four executions on 17 and 18 March 2026 in connection with protests in January 2026 and espionage charges related to the twelve-day war in July 2025.
Iranian human rights defender Soheil Arabi has been missing since 17 March 2026, raising suspicions over his potential arrest. Previously, he had been publishing photos of conflict-affected areas in Tehran on his social media. On 15 March 2026, woman human rights defender and documentary film-maker Mojgan Inanlou was violently arrested along with her family members in Tehran. Their house was raided and electronic devices were confiscated. Mojgan Inanlu and her family were reportedly released on bail on 17 March 2026.
On 18 March 2026, Sharifeh Mohammadi was released on a one-week furlough from Lakan prison in Rasht, Gilan province. The woman human rights defender has been unjustly imprisoned since December 2023, mostly on death row. In October 2025, the Chief Justice of Iran commuted the death sentence of the woman human rights defender to thirty years’ imprisonment.
Front Line Defenders welcomes the temporary release of Sharifeh Mohmmadi, Mojgan Inanlu, and Shima Ghooseh ahead of Nowrouz, the new year celebrated by Iranians and many others in the region. The organisation further calls upon the Iranian authorises to release all human rights defenders for exercising their work, including Narges Mohammadi, Golrokh Iraee, Sepideh Gholian, Sharifeh Mohammadi, Serveh Pourmohammadi, Edris Menbari, Mohammad Najafi, Mohammad Reza Faghihi, Reza Khandan, Ahmadreza Haeri, Taher Naghavi, Seyed Mehdi Karimi Farsi, Javad Alikordi, Abolfazl Ranjbari , Hashm Khastar, and Masoud Farhikhteh.
Further, the Coordinating Council of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association (CCITTA) reported that human rights defender and prominent CCITTA member Masoud Farhikhteh began a three day hunger strike on 18 March 2026 in protest against the “dire situation of the prisoners and to highlight the situation of political prisoners, civil activists, and those convicted of non-intentional offences, among others.”
Front Line Defenders received reports from human rights groups regarding the deterioration of the conditions in Iranian prisons, particularly under the escalating conflict. The organisation expresses its deep concern over these reports, especially due the precedence of Israeli forces attacking the Evin compound in June 2025. According to the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on Iran, this attack may amount to war crimes.
Front Line Defenders reiterates its call from 5 March 2026 to raise protection concerns with the relevant authorities and provide concrete support and protection measures for human rights defenders at risk. Front Line Defenders calls on the authorities in Iran to release or furlough detained human rights defenders on humanitarian grounds.
