Transfer of Two Detained Activists from Gilan-e Gharb's IRGC Detention Center to Police Headquarters

A human rights monitoring organization in western and northwestern Iran reported that six out of eight detained activists in Gilan-e Gharb were released on bail from the IRGC detention center, while two of them were transferred to the police headquarters. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network on Tuesday, September 3, the families of Mohsen Esfandiari-Tabar and Lotfollah Parviz learned after visiting Branch 16 of the Kermanshah Prosecutor's Office that the detention order for these two civil activists had been extended on charges of 'disturbing public opinion.' The report states that the two mentioned civil activists were moved from the IRGC's intelligence detention center in Nabi Akram base in Kermanshah to the central police detention center on September 8, raising concerns about the charges against them and the possibility of torture to extract forced confessions. The report also mentions that 'Arash Aflati, Maria Khani, Jahangir Azadi, Hamidreza Rahimian, and Mostafa Rostami,' who were detained in August, were temporarily released on bail on September 5 and 6, while Salman Parvan, a disabled civil activist, was released three days after his arrest on August 26 due to his physical condition and inability to endure imprisonment. An informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network that these individuals are 'well-known civil activists' in Gilan-e Gharb, and Mr. Esfandiari-Tabar and Parviz managed two Telegram channels, 'Kherad Andishan Motalehgar Zagros' and 'Campaign for Saving Zagros.' Mohsen Esfandiari-Tabar, a 38-year-old citizen and a naval officer in the Islamic Republic's Navy, was arrested by IRGC intelligence agents in Tehran on August 8 and informed his wife via phone that he had been transferred to Kermanshah. The Kurdistan Human Rights Network stated that Mr. Esfandiari-Tabar had previously been summoned by intelligence agencies regarding the celebration of Nowruz in Gilan-e Gharb and had been 'threatened.' Lotfollah Parviz, another detained civil activist, is a 48-year-old teacher who was arrested on August 23 in Gilan-e Gharb along with the others who were released on bail. According to this report, the detainees had requested official permission from government agencies to hold a Nowruz 1403 celebration, and after their 'request was denied,' the event was held 'through public calls.' An informed source also mentioned that the activities of Mohsen Esfandiari-Tabar and Lotfollah Parviz were focused on 'warning about the danger of environmental destruction in Zagros,' and so far, '30,000' signatures have been collected for this campaign. The statements made by Hamidreza Karimi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Kermanshah, regarding their arrest and attributing the production of 'offensive and divisive content' to them were deemed 'a scenario created by security agencies.' This source expressed concern over the transfer of these two detained citizens to the police headquarters and 'the possibility of their torture,' adding: 'The mass arrests and pressures on these individuals in the IRGC intelligence detention center, despite the lack of evidence and their resistance to accepting the charges, indicate the futility of this security scenario.'