Hadia Sahibzada, head of the Voice of Afghan Women Movement, and her husband, Tareq Rasa, a journalist, have been arrested while attempting to leave Iran and are at risk of deportation to Afghanistan.

The family of the women’s rights activist says the couple were arrested by Iranian police on Sunday, November 1.

According to the family, Sahibzada is currently in police custody, and they have no precise information about the couple’s whereabouts or condition.

The family says they have received only one message from the couple since their arrest and are concerned about their current situation. According to Sahibzada’s relatives, she told her friends in messages that she was being held in the city of Urmia.

In an audio recording obtained from Sahibzada, she can be heard expressing concern over the possibility of being deported to Afghanistan.

Reza Shafakhah, an Iranian lawyer, has also said that Hadia Sahibzada and her husband are in police custody and face the risk of deportation.

Sahibzada’s relatives have called on human rights organisations to take action to prevent the deportation of the women’s rights activist to Afghanistan.

Hadia Sahibzada is an Afghan women’s rights activist who has repeatedly advocated for women’s rights and spoken out against restrictions imposed by the Taliban.

In recent years, several women’s rights activists and journalists have been arrested by police in Iran and Pakistan.