BA (Iran) v The Secretary of State for The Home Department

Facts

The appellant, BA, is an Iranian national of Kurdish ethnicity. He appealed under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 against the Secretary of State's decision of 28 July 2024 refusing his protection claim. Because the claim fell within sections 30 to 39 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, those provisions applied. He said he had taken part in two demonstrations in Iran, on 18 and 20 November 2022, protesting against the killing of Miss Amini. According to his account, the authorities later checked CCTV footage and arrested a paternal cousin who had demonstrated with him, and the cousin disclosed his details, presumably under torture. His father and uncle then arranged for him to leave Iran. He said that his father was detained after he left and that the authorities visited the family home two or three times, including in March 2025, when they assaulted his father and injured his eye. He relied on a hospital record and photographs to support this. He also made a sur place claim based on attending demonstrations and posting on Facebook in the UK. The respondent accepted that he would be at risk on return if he had come to the adverse attention of the Iranian authorities through the demonstrations in Iran. The appeal was heard in Birmingham on 19 September 2026. The appellant gave evidence through a Kurdish Sorani interpreter.