Iranian human rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi has been transferred from jail to a Tehran hospital amid mounting concern over her deteriorating health - a move her family's foundation describes as a 'sentence suspension on heavy bail' granted by authorities on Sunday.
This comes after weeks of warnings from family and supporters that the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner could die in prison following two suspected heart attacks earlier this year. Mohammadi, 54, who earned the Nobel for her activism against female oppression in Iran, is now at Tehran Pars Hospital being treated by her own medical team, according to the Narges Mohammadi Foundation.
She had spent 10 days hospitalised in Zanjan in northern Iran, where she had been serving her sentence. Her Paris-based husband reported over the weekend that 'she is not in a favourable general condition' and 'her status remains unstable.' The activist has lost approximately 20kg (three stone) in prison, has difficulty speaking, and is barely recognisable, said her lawyer Chirinne Ardakani.
Mohammadi began serving a 13-year sentence in 2021 on charges of 'propaganda activity against the state' and 'collusion against state security' - allegations she denies. She received a temporary release from Tehran's notorious Evin prison on medical grounds in December 2024, but was arrested again last December for making 'provocative remarks' at a memorial ceremony, with her family claiming she was beaten during the arrest and subsequently hospitalised.
In early February, a Revolutionary Court piled on an additional seven-and-a-half years for 'gathering and collusion' and 'propaganda activities.' Last month, her brother Hamidreza said she had been found unconscious by fellow inmates at Zanjan prison after another suspected heart attack.
The foundation's statement on Sunday declared that 'a suspension is not enough' and that Mohammadi requires 'permanent, specialised care.' It added: 'We must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence. Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges. No human and women's rights activists should ever be imprisoned for their peaceful work.'