On December 12, 2025, Sepideh Gholian, a freelance journalist and activist, was arrested by the Iranian security forces during a memorial for dissident human rights lawyer Khosrow Alikordi in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Gholian, who writes for online and print publications produced by workers’ unions including the syndicate media outlet of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers, was detained alongside several other activists, including Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Alieh Motalebzadeh, a journalist and human rights activist; Hasti Amiri, a student activist and columnist; and Pouran Nazemi, a human rights activist.
Sources close to Gholian, who spoke to CPJ on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said she was transferred to a detention center operated by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence in Mashhad, the capital of eastern Khorasan Razavi province. Authorities cited Gholian’s media activities and reporting during interrogations and brought anti-state charges against her.
She is being held in a small cell with other detainees under poor conditions, the sources told CPJ.
Iran’s nationwide internet blackout, imposed since January 8, has prevented contact with detainees' families and limited access to updated information.
Gholian has been arrested and imprisoned multiple times over her journalistic work and activism. Her most recent prior detention was linked to her reporting snd public statements on human rights abuses in Iran, a source close to the journalist told CPJ. She was last released on June 11, 2025, after spending more than 800 days in Tehran’s Evin prison.
According to reports including by the Netherlands-based Radio Zamaneh, on the same day as her most recent arrest, security forces also raided the Gholian family home in the southwestern city of Dezful, confiscating personal belongings and the mobile phone of her brother, Mehdi Gholian. He was later summoned and interrogated by security authorities.
CPJ emailed Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York for comment but received no response.