A young Kurdish violinist has vanished into Iran’s security apparatus after taking part in a cross‑border musical project, in a case that starkly illustrates how artistic collaboration is being criminalised when it involves Israel and Kurdish identity. The enforced disappearance of 23‑year‑old Nima Mandoumi sends a chilling message to musicians across the region: international art can be treated as a national security offence.
A violinist disappears
On 9 December 2025, plainclothes agents from Iran’s Intelligence Department arrested Kurdish violinist Nima Mandoumi in Alborz province and transferred him to an undisclosed location. More than two weeks later, authorities had still not revealed where he was being held, what condition he was in, or what charges – if any – he faced.
Mandoumi, originally from Kamyaran in Iranian Kurdistan, is 23 years old and part of a new generation of Kurdish musicians who use classical instruments to explore both Kurdish and international repertoires. His family first learned of the arrest through informal contacts and has received no official notification or documentation from the authorities.
Punished for playing across borders
According to information collected by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Mandoumi’s arrest came shortly after he participated in a concert in Armenia that brought together musicians from different countries, including several Israeli artists. Sources close to the family say intelligence agents explicitly cited this artistic collaboration as the reason for his detention, portraying a cultural performance as a form of “cooperation” with Israel.
Iranian state media have so far remained silent, but the framing reported by these sources fits a broader securitisation of any perceived link with Israel, particularly when it involves Kurdish citizens and cross‑border networking. In this context, a violin on stage becomes grounds for interrogation rather than dialogue, and an international festival becomes a potential crime scene.
Enforced disappearance as a method
Since his arrest, Mandoumi has been held incommunicado: his whereabouts are unknown, he has been denied contact with his family and lawyer, and no formal charges have been communicated. These elements together meet core criteria of enforced disappearance as defined under international human rights law, where the state refuses to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or to disclose the fate and location of the person.
Hengaw reports that Mandoumi’s parents travelled to Tehran to petition various state bodies for information about their son, but their efforts have “so far yielded no results”. The combination of a security‑led arrest, the blackout of information and the deliberate obstruction of family inquiries places Mandoumi at heightened risk of torture, ill‑treatment or forced confession.
Targeting Kurdish artists
Mandoumi’s case does not stand in isolation. Kurdish human rights organisations and international NGOs have documented a long pattern of Iranian authorities targeting Kurdish artists, cultural workers and political activists with charges such as “propaganda against the state”, “membership of illegal groups” and “espionage for Israel”. Enforced disappearance and prolonged incommunicado detention have become recurrent tools, especially in cases involving Kurds and alleged foreign ties.
This pattern sits within a wider assault on artistic freedom in Iran, where musicians, filmmakers and writers have been arrested, banned from work or forced into exile for works deemed politically sensitive or morally “deviant”. For Kurdish artists, the combined weight of ethnic discrimination and security‑state suspicion adds an extra layer of vulnerability when they perform abroad or work with international partners.
Mandoumi’s disappearance highlights three converging fault lines:
The criminalisation of artistic collaboration with Israelis, even when it takes place in third countries and in purely cultural settings.
The persistent use of enforced disappearance against Kurds and other marginalised communities as a way to silence dissent and avoid judicial scrutiny.
The message sent to young artists in Iran and the wider region that international stages may carry severe personal risks, especially when politics intrudes into cultural spaces.
For artistic freedom advocates, the case raises urgent questions about the right to participate in cultural life without fear of reprisal for one’s collaborators or audience. It also underlines the need for closer monitoring of how “national security” narratives are being deployed to police cross‑border artistic exchanges, particularly involving Israel and Kurdish communities.
What needs to happen next
Human rights organisations are calling on Iranian authorities to immediately disclose Nima Mandoumi’s location, allow contact with his family and lawyer, and either release him or present recognisable criminal charges in proceedings that meet international fair‑trial standards. They further urge Iran to cease using enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention as tools against artists and to respect its obligations under international human rights treaties protecting cultural rights and freedom of expression.
For networks working on artistic freedom, Mandoumi’s case underscores the importance of rapid public documentation, cross‑regional solidarity and safe channels for at‑risk artists to engage in international collaboration without being punished for who shares the stage with them.
Kurdish violinist Nima Mandoumi, 23, was arrested by Iranian intelligence in Alborz province on 9 December 2025 and has since been held incommunicado, with his fate and whereabouts unknown. His detention reportedly followed an international concert in Armenia where he performed alongside Israeli musicians, turning a cultural exchange into a supposed security offence.
Mandoumi’s case illustrates how Iran’s authorities are criminalising artistic collaboration and using enforced disappearance against Kurdish artists, raising urgent concerns for artistic freedom, minority rights and cross‑border cultural work.
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