On June 14, 2025, Iranian police arrested Motahareh Goonehi (also written Goonei), a student activist who had previously been barred from continuing her studies at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, in retaliation for a social media post criticizing the Iranian government’s response to Israeli airstrikes.

The arrest occurred one day after Israel launched an attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, sparking twelve days of airstrikes between the two countries. Amid the airstrikes, Iranian authorities escalated arrests of civil society activists.

In reaction to Israeli airstrikes, Goonehi posted on social media calling for the Iranian government to better protect the Iranian public. Iranian security forces arrested her and took her to an unknown location.

Goonehi had previously been arrested in 2024 for participating in a sit-in protest against the death sentence of an Iranian rapper and for her social media activity. She was sentenced to one year in prison and released on March 16, 2025. At the time, she was banned from continuing her studies as a dental student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary imprisonment and prosecution of a student in apparent retaliation for the peaceful exercise of her rights to freedom of expression and assembly — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such incidents have a chilling effect on academic freedom and undermine democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.en-hrana.org/student-activist-motahareh-goonehi-arrested/
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2025/06/article-59
https://iranwire.com/en/features/142542-iran-detains-dissidents-shuts-internet-as-war-escalates/
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202506149637