11 people were arrested in western Iran on charges of participating in the January protests

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The Intelligence Department in Elam Province, western Iran, announced the arrest of 11 people in Malakshahi District, accusing them of “shooting at security forces, vandalizing property, and participating in the January 2026 protests.”

The Iranian ISNA news agency reported that the security apparatus said, in a statement published on Saturday, October 17, that the detainees were organized into three separate groups, and that they were linked to the United States and Israel, without providing evidence to prove these accusations.

Elam Intelligence also accused the detainees of shooting at a police headquarters, directing protesters, vandalizing government and public facilities, and “displaying force using firearms and knives” during the January protests.

It announced the seizure of weapons, without providing additional details regarding their nature or the circumstances of their discovery.

The security apparatus described the January protests as a “coup,” and the detainees as “mercenaries,” but did not reveal their identities, the exact timing of their arrest, or their places of detention. The statement also did not include information about the status of their judicial files or the availability of contact with lawyers.

Malakshahi witnessed bloody confrontations during the protests

The Kurdish district of Malakshahi is located in Elam Governorate, western Iran. It is one of the epicenters of the protests last January, which witnessed some of the bloodiest confrontations between security forces and protesters.

Video clips published from the city's protests showed security forces shooting demonstrators with live ammunition in broad daylight.

The official Iranian news agency described the events in Elam at the time as “scattered clashes” and claimed that some protesters were carrying firearms and hand grenades, without providing independent confirmation of these allegations.

Other arrests in Kerman and accusations of sabotage

On Saturday, October 3, the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence previously announced the arrest of 31 people in the Sirjan district of Kerman province, describing them as members of four “organized networks of street sabotage.”

The ministry claimed that the detainees had been organized to participate in “calls for nationwide protest,” and that they were preparing to make Molotov cocktails and prepare tools to sabotage street surveillance cameras.

It also accused them of participating in "burning the district office building, sabotaging banks and government buildings, and attacking a police headquarters" during the events of January 2026, which the ministry in turn described as a "coup."

The statement did not include details about the identities of the detainees or the evidence on which the accusations against them are based.

Human rights warnings about executions

These arrests come at a time when human rights organizations warn of the continued arrest of people in connection with the January protests, and of the implementation of death sentences against some of the accused linked to them.

On October 16, Amnesty International called for “urgent action” and said that thousands of people had been arrested in connection with the protests, and that at least 34 people had been executed.

The organization added that since last March, the Iranian Supreme Court has ratified death sentences against at least 20 other defendants, who face imminent danger of carrying out the sentences. She explained that two of them were under the age of 18 at the time of committing the acts attributed to them.

Amnesty International said that the defendants in these cases were tried on charges including “community” and “spreading corruption on earth,” and that they were denied access to lawyers during the pre-trial phase.

It also reported the use of forced confessions before revolutionary courts, and documented cases of torture, electric shocks, and solitary confinement for long periods.

In another development, on October 11, the head of the judiciary in Isfahan Province described the protesters as “coupists” and announced that implementing the death sentences issued against them would be a priority.