ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The fate of a young Kurdish woman remains unknown after she was detained by Iranian security forces late Saturday, according to rights groups. The reason for the mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete’s capture remains unclear.
Iranian security forces detained Rozhan Ebrahimi, 20, after raiding her family home in Saqqez city in Kurdistan province, reported Hengaw human rights organization.
Ebrahimi’s whereabouts and the reason for her detention remain unknown.
Several other rights groups also reported Ebrahimi’s detention.
At least 143 people were arrested across Iran in September, including 17 women. Nearly half of them were Kurds, including seven women, according to Hengaw.
The detention comes amid a broader crackdown by Iranian authorities on Kurdish cultural and language activists, which has intensified since nationwide protests in January and the outbreak of the US-Iran war in late February.
Iranian authorities last week arrested Bayan Salehian, a 43-year-old Kurdish physician, during a raid on her home and transferred her to an undisclosed location.
In early August, United Nations experts called on Iranian authorities to end what they described as escalating arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment, and arbitrary executions targeting ethnic minorities, particularly Kurds and Baluch.
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