Mina Soltani Zare

Age: 56
Activism/rights:  Justice-seeking family
Status: Released on bail
Judicial status: 8 months’ imprisonment and a fine 
Violations: Arbitrary arrest and detention; lack of a fair trial and due process; denial of access to a lawyer; harassment of family members; prolonged solitary confinement; torture and ill-treatment

Mina Soltani Zare, known as Daye Mina (mother Mina), is the mother of Shahriar Mohammadi, who was killed during the 2022 protests in Bukan. Her 28-year-old son was killed during the nationwide demonstrations sparked by the death of Jina (Mahsa) Amini in the custody of the morality police, after state security forces fired live ammunition at his car. Mina was subjected to threats, harassment and repeated summonses to deter her from seeking justice against the perpetrators and commanders of the murder. Despite this intense pressure, she has remained resolute in her pursuit of accountability and continues to express solidarity during meetings with other justice-seeking families.

In addition to Mina, her family has faced systematic pressure and intimidation from security agencies. During Shahriar's funeral, which was heavily controlled by state forces, security agents began kicking his corpse. When his brother, Milad, protested against this desecration, agents shot him twice in the legs at close range and forcibly injected him with sedatives. Later, on the eve of the first anniversary of her son's death, Mina was arrested and subjected to psychological torture, while her daughter, Asrin, was violently detained during a security raid two days prior to the commemoration.

On 11 September 2024, during the second anniversary of Shahriar's death, security forces surrounded and arrested Mina on the street, assaulting her with an electric stun gun. She was taken to the Bukan Intelligence Bureau for interrogation before being transferred to an Urmia intelligence facility. Her home was subsequently raided and vandalised Mina's home, confiscating her late son's photographs and personal belongings.

Mina was released on bail from Urmia (Darya) Central Prison in October 2024. She was sentenced in March 2025 by Branch 101 of the Bukan Criminal Court to eight months’ imprisonment and payment of a fine of one million tomans on charges of “propaganda against the system” and “appearing in public spaces without hijab”.

On the eve of the third anniversary of Shahriar’s killing, security forces threatened other justice-seeking families and pressuring them to distance themselves from Mina to ostracise her.

Her other children, Milad and Asrin, were forced to leave Iran as a result of continued harassment and threats by security forces.