On July 11, 2022, security forces arrested at least ten family members of the individuals killed during nationwide protests in 2019 known as Aban protests. In a news article, IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency called such families “agitators and “troublemakers” since they have been outspoken about seeking justice for their kids.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, on July 11, 2022, at least ten family members of those who were killed in the Aban protest were arrested.
These apprehended individuals include Nahid Shirpisheh and Mehrdad Bakhtiari, Pouya Bakhtiari’s mother and uncle, Mahboobeh Ramezani, Pejman Gholipour’s mother, Saeed Damour, Vahid Damour’s brother, and Somayeh Jafarpanah, Jafar Panahi’s sister.
BBC Farsi has added Tala’at Meshki, Jafarpanah’s mother, Iran Allahyari, Mehrdad Moeinfar’s mother, and, Zeynab Mohammadi, Mohammad Taheri’s mother, to the list. HRANA has not been able to verify the latter yet.
These individuals’ whereabouts are still unknown.
A few hours after these arrests, Fars News Agency called the family members “agitators” and accused them of “receiving the money to cause unrest and insecurity.”
In November of 2019, an increase in fuel prices sparked a wave of protests in dozens of cities across the country. The spokesperson of the Parliamentary National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Seyed Hossein Taghavi, announced that 7000 people were arrested during these protests. According to reports from human rights organizations, hundreds were killed by the security apparatus.
