ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian authorities arrested a Kurdish woman on Saturday after she and her elderly father were summoned to a Revolutionary Court in West Azerbaijan province, later transferring her to a security detention facility, a Kurdish rights group reported on Sunday, noting that the two are relatives of a political activist.
The Kurdistan Press Agency (Kurdpa) identified the woman as Bayan Qaderi, 38, and said she was arrested without a warrant upon arriving at the court and later transferred to a security detention facility in Urmia.
Qaderi was informed at the court that a case had been opened against her and would be reviewed, according to Kurdpa. The group did not specify the charges she faces.
Qaderi and her elderly father, Aziz Qaderi, live together in Pasveh, in Piranshahr County of West Azerbaijan province. They are relatives of Muhammad Qaderi, a political activist living outside Iran. Bayan Qaderi is responsible for caring for her father because of his advanced age, Kurdpa said.
Her arrest came days after Aziz Qaderi was summoned by the intelligence branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and detained for several hours for questioning, the rights group reported on Thursday.
Kurdpa said security forces also raided the family's home without presenting a warrant, searched the property and damaged some of their belongings.
The incidents come amid reports that Iranian security forces have targeted the families of several political activists living outside the country.
Dozens of armed local forces affiliated with the IRGC raided the family homes of several political activists living abroad in the early hours of September 12, according to Kurdish rights monitors.
The Norway-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said at least 75 Kurds were arrested by Iranian security agencies over various charges in August, including one child, while 38 others received prison sentences during the same month.
Hengaw said Kurdish detainees accounted for 64 percent of all arrests it documented across Iran in August.
