ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iranian provincial police chief said on Monday that the department will investigate several officers who assaulted three teenagers in the city of Sina (Sanandaj) in Iran’s Kurdish region (Rojhelat), state media reported, after viral footage sparked an outcry and provoked intense backlash.
Footage of the assault went viral on social media on Monday, showing several police officers forcing three teenagers out of a car and repeatedly slapping, kicking and beating one of the boys at his head, knees, and below the belt after they pursued and stopped the vehicle.
Kurdistan provincial police commander Brigadier General Yahya Elahi ordered a preliminary investigation and the officers involved were summoned to the police’s special inspection department, according to Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Tasnim news agency.
“The police work to ensure the security and peace of the people to the very end and consider serving society their duty,” said the Brigadier General, adding that “preserving human dignity, respecting citizens’ rights and carrying out duties within the law” are key principles Iran’s Law Enforcement Command and that conduct would be addressed accordingly.
The incident comes after footage from another incident in mid-September went viral in East Azerbaijan province, showing several officers from Iran’s Law Enforcement Command beating and sexually assaulting a teenager in Tabriz.
After the footage circulated widely online, East Azerbaijan police acknowledged what they called the officers’ “improper conduct” and said those involved had been disciplined and placed on “awaiting service” status while further proceedings continue.
The same institutions have also played a central role in suppressing political protests.
Iranian security forces killed at least 3,356 protesters and bystanders on January 8 and 9 alone, according to a new report by Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), accounting for 91 percent of all 4,200 cases in which the organization was able to establish an exact date of death during the nationwide crackdown, warning that the true toll is likely considerably higher.
Among those identified are at least 420 women and 281 children under the age of 18. Twenty-five of the children were younger than 14, while the youngest documented victim was four and a half months old.
During the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising and the January 2026 protests, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch documented beatings, arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual violence and lethal force by police and other security bodies.
According to an Amnesty report in mid-September, Iranian authorities killed 377 protesters and bystanders, including 56 children, during the 2022 uprising and identified 87 officials it says were implicated in the crackdown.
Amnesty International has similarly documented a long-standing pattern of torture and other ill-treatment by Iran’s police, intelligence bodies, security forces and prison officials, including beatings, electric shocks, sexual abuse and coerced confessions.
Human Rights Watch has repeatedly described impunity among Iranian security forces as widespread, saying authorities have failed to meaningfully investigate numerous allegations of excessive force, torture and sexual assault.
Its reporting has also documented mistreatment of detainees outside purely political cases, including abuses against Kurdish border couriers and other people taken into custody.
