KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Iranian intelligence agents have arrested Sara Gohari, a 29-year-old student from Afghanistan studying sociology at the University of Tehran, and transferred her to an undisclosed location, a human rights organization reported.
According to Hengaw, Gohari was detained on July 6 at the Taybad border crossing for reasons that remain unclear. Prior to her arrest, she had announced on Instagram that she planned to visit the Taybad border for independent research on migrants from Afghanistan.
Sources told Hengaw that the arrest was carried out without a judicial warrant. More than 10 days later, Gohari remains in custody without access to legal representation or the ability to contact her family, which rights groups say violates basic legal protections.
Repeated attempts by her family to obtain information have been unsuccessful, prompting the launch of an online campaign under the hashtag “Where is Sara Gohari?” to raise awareness of her disappearance.
The case comes amid increasing concerns about the safety of Afghan migrants in Iran, where recent months have seen a string of disappearances and killings. Last week, the family of 15-year-old migrant Farida Mohammadi reported her missing in Tehran. She vanished from the Deh Metri area of Islamshahr after leaving a tailoring workshop where she worked.
In June, the mutilated body of Kobra Rezaei, a young woman missing for 50 days, was found among garbage. Iranian media reported that her remains were discovered in the home of an Iranian man who has since been arrested in connection with the killing.
More recently, Amir Taha Rezaei, an 18-year-old migrant, was found dead in a garden in Damavand, near Tehran after being reported missing.
These cases come amid Iran’s mass deportation of Afghan migrants and mounting reports of mistreatment by Iranian authorities. Rights groups warn that anti-migrant sentiment in Iranian society is intensifying, creating an increasingly hostile environment for refugees and migrants.
