By Kayhan Life Staff
The Norway-based human rights organization Hengaw has published a statistical report documenting widespread repression of students and teachers in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the last year.
Titled “Hundreds of Children and Educators Arrested Across Iran in One Year,” the report states that at least 315 students and children under the age of 18, as well as at least 59 teachers and university professors, were arrested by the Islamic Republic’s security agencies in the most recent academic year, which ended Sept. 21.
According to data compiled by Hengaw’s Statistics and Documents Center, between late September 2025 and late September 2026, at least 315 children under the age of 18 and students whose identities were fully verified by Hengaw were arrested by the Islamic Republic’s security agencies. Of those, 30 were girls, and 285 were boys.
The report states that the highest number of verified arrests of children was recorded in the western province of Hamadan, with 138 cases. This was followed by the western province of Ilam and the northeastern province of Khorasan Razavi, where the identities of 24 arrested children were verified in each province.
During the same period, at least eight children and students under the age of 18, including two girls, were sentenced by the Islamic Republic’s judiciary to a combined total of 22 years, 4 months and 15 days in prison, as well as six years and six months of suspended imprisonment.
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Amirali Qajari from Qazvin (northwest), Saeed Baghcheghi from Bojnurd (northeast), Payam Hosseini from Kamyaran (west), Yasin Sarfaraz from Bojnurd (northeast), Zeinab Izanlou from Bojnurd, Binyamin Vahidi from Bojnurd, Nazanin Zahra Mousavi from Sabzevar (northeast), and Amir Balouch from Sarbaz County (southeast) are among the under-18s sentenced to prison by judges of the Islamic Republic.
Another section of the report addresses the suppression of teachers, stating that over the past year, at least 59 teachers, retired teachers, and university professors, including nine women, were arrested by government institutions in cities across Iran.
The highest number of recorded arrests of teachers occurred in the provinces of Fars (central Iran), Khorasan Razavi, and Kermanshah (west), with nine, eight, and six arrests, respectively.
According to the report, over the last year, at least 16 teachers and university professors, including four women, were collectively sentenced to 52 years, five months, and 2 days in prison. One of them was also sentenced to 74 lashes in addition to a prison term. Their names and sentences are as follows:
- Zhaleh Rouhzad, from Tehran (north) — eight months in prison.
- Arman Shahpourikhou, from Izeh (southwest) — two years in prison.
- Keyumars Vaezi, from Sonqor (west) — five years in prison.
- Amir Rahimi, from Azna (west) — four years in prison.
- Mehdi Fathi, from Shiraz (central Iran) — one year and three months in prison.
- Kokab Badaghipegah, from Izeh (southwest) — one year in prison.
- Ahmad Alizadeh, from Abdanan (west) — two years in prison.
- Aria Nourani, from Maneh and Samalqan (northeast) — one year and two months in prison.
- Reza Moslemi, from Hamadan (west) — four years, one month, and 17 days in prison.
- Azadeh Saleki, from Torbat-e Heydarieh (northeast) — five years in prison.
- Shokrollah Ahmadi, from Mamasani (central Iran) — three years, seven months, and 15 days in prison.
- Bahram Yaghoubi, from Tabriz (northwest) — eight months in prison.
- Javad Safari, from Zanjan (northwest) — two years and seven months in prison.
- Masoud Farhikhteh, from Karaj (north) — one year in prison.
- Forough Khosravi, from Behbahan (southwest) — 15 years in prison.
- Mohammad Hossein Davoudi, from Miandoab (northwest) — three years and four months in prison and 74 lashes.
The U.S.-based Center for Human Rights in Iran also reported last month that, following the protests of December and January, the Islamic Republic arrested, imprisoned, or subjected to judicial proceedings at least 60 teachers.
The human rights organization noted that the actual number of people detained was certainly much higher, particularly among teachers arrested during the December and January protests whose cases were never made public.
In addition, numerous arrests in smaller cities went unreported. The unprecedented nationwide internet shutdown, which lasted for 88 days, further complicated efforts to document the government’s violent crackdown.
The report added that, as part of the Islamic Republic’s broader campaign to suppress dissent, security and judicial authorities have arbitrarily arrested teachers and activists affiliated with teachers’ professional associations, subjected some to enforced disappearance, and prosecuted them on what the report describes as fabricated charges.
Many have been held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods and denied access to lawyers, contact with the outside world, and medical care. According to the report, these measures were intended to intimidate teachers and silence independent professional and organizational activities.
In recent months, teachers’ activists and professional associations have also repeatedly protested the systematic repression of teachers in various cities.
