Mehdi Karimi, a young resident of Malekshahi County in Ilam Province, remains in a state of complete incommunicado detention following his arrest by security forces and the broadcast of a video containing an alleged forced confession attributed to him by state media. Concerns regarding his safety and well-being have intensified significantly.
According to Kolbarnews on Thursday, June 18, 2026, Mehdi Karimi was arrested without the presentation of a judicial warrant and reportedly subjected to violent treatment by security forces before being transferred to an undisclosed location. Four days after his arrest, his family still had no information regarding his whereabouts or condition. He has also been deprived of the right to contact or meet with his family and has been denied access to legal counsel.
An informed source confirmed that the individual shown with a blurred face in the video released by state media is Mehdi Karimi. According to the source, the alleged confession was broadcast while he was in detention and without access to either his family or a lawyer.
On Saturday, June 20, 2026, the Mizan News Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) released a video of detainees and announced the “arrest of three field leaders and fourteen U.S.–Israeli mercenaries,” terminology that has been repeatedly used by state media in recent months against protesters and detained citizens.
The continued lack of information regarding Mehdi Karimi’s fate, his deprivation of fundamental rights during detention, and the broadcast of an alleged forced confession attributed to him have raised serious concerns about the physical and psychological well-being of this Kurdish citizen. Human rights organizations have repeatedly emphasized that the broadcasting of confessions obtained during detention and in the absence of access to legal counsel and family members may contribute to violations of the right to a fair trial and increase the risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment of detainees.
