According to received reports, on Saturday, February 14, 2026, Ali Balaei, brother of slain protester Shirzad Balaei, was arrested by Iranian intelligence forces in Eslamabad-e Gharb. Local sources say he was detained in Farhangian Square without a judicial warrant and transferred to an undisclosed location. No official information has been released regarding the reasons for his arrest or his place of detention.
The arrest comes amid an intensified wave of mass detentions across the country, raising concerns about increasing pressure on the families of those killed during recent protests.
Shirzad Balaei, a 42-year-old Kurdish resident of Eslamabad-e Gharb, was reportedly killed during the January 7, 2026 protests in the city. According to reports, he was fatally shot in the head with live ammunition during the crackdown.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the U.S.-based news outlet affiliated with a network of human rights activists, reported that Iranian authorities have arrested more than 50,000 people during the nationwide crackdown.
In a report published on February 3, 2026, HRANA stated that at least 50,235 individuals had been detained in connection with the recent protests.
The report further documented 106 student arrests, 303 cases of forced confessions, and 11,046 summonses. It also recorded 666 protest-related incidents across 209 cities in all 31 provinces of Iran.
