A US-based rights group condemned Tehran for shutting down one of its oldest child welfare organizations and detaining its founder, calling it an assault on civil society as Iran faces worsening child labor and poverty.
Iran's security forces arrested child rights defender Hossein Mirbahari, a founding member of the Society for the Protection of Child Laborers and Street Children, at his sister’s home in Tehran on October 15.
New-York based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on Monday Mirbahari has been held without charge and denied access to his family and lawyer, with his whereabouts still unknown.
“Mirbahari’s unlawful arrest and the closing of the organization mirror the Islamic Republic’s dismantling of other NGOs, and reflect its intensifying drive to wipe out independent civil society organizations,” CHRI’s executive director Hadi Ghaemi said in a statement.
He added that the government’s actions showcase what he called the Islamic Republic's "lawless thuggery", accusing it of fearing “any independent societal activities, no matter how vital a role they play.”
Security forces sealed the organization’s office in Tehran the same day as Mirbahari’s arrest and confiscated equipment and communication devices, effectively halting its operations.
The NGO's closure and Mirbahari's arrest were first reported by the Iranian outlet Emtedad in mid-October.
The group had been operating legally since 2002 after receiving official registration from the Interior Ministry, providing education, health services, and psychological support to vulnerable children.
CHRI called on the United Nations, UNICEF, and the European Union to press Iran for Mirbahari’s immediate release and to demand the reopening of the organization, citing his fragile health following chemotherapy.
The closure comes amid what CHRI described as an escalating campaign by Iranian authorities to criminalize humanitarian work and silence advocates for children, women, and marginalized communities.
The group said the shutdown has already disrupted schooling for many children the NGO supported.
Iran faces a worsening child labor crisis, with estimates ranging from 1.5 to 7 million working children. Official figures cited by Iran’s Parliamentary Research Center in 2023 said 15% of the country’s children are engaged in labor, while Tehran’s City Council estimated 70,000 child laborers in the capital alone.
The Society for the Protection of Child Laborers and Street Children had served as a rare legal platform for advocacy and assistance to working and street children across Iran, employing specialized units in education, health, social work, and research before its forced closure.
The closure marks a continuation of previous crackdowns on independent civil society organizations.
Past Iranian NGO closures
Last April, Iran shut down the Mehr-e Shams-Afarid NGO safe house, which provided support and empowerment programs for vulnerable women.
In August 2022, Iran shut down the Noor Sepid Hedayat Social Harm Reduction Institute, an NGO that supported women with substance abuse issues and vulnerable children in Shoush, a neighborhood in southern Tehran.
Iranian authorities shut down Khaneh Khorshid, an NGO aiding women with substance abuse in southern Tehran, in March 2022.
In 2020, Iranian security forces arrested Sharmin Meymandinejad, the founder and director of the largest anti-poverty NGO in the country, Imam Ali's Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS), and subsequently closed down its headquarters.
In August 2019, another independent charity supporting marginalized women and girls in Tehran, Omid-e-Mehr was forcibly closed by the Iranian authorities.
