Family of ailing Iranian Nobel laureate say keeping her in jail is a death sentence

The family of the jailed Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi say they fear for her life after a sharp deterioration in her health, suspected heart attack and drop in body weight of almost 20kg (44lb).

The 54-year-old human rights activist, who was awarded the 2023 Nobel peace prize while in prison, had been released for health reasons in 2024. She was re-arrested in December 2025 during the memorial service of a fellow human rights activist and is being held in Zanjan central prison, in north-west Iran.

The activist’s legal team said they had been trying to secure a one-month medical suspension of Mohammadi’s sentence after she had a suspected heart attack last month and was found unconscious in her cell. Their client had been experiencing persistent chest pain, loss of consciousness and extreme weight loss, they said.

“For the past three days, her blood pressure has fluctuated dangerously … showing no response to medication. In addition to these cardiovascular issues, she has suffered a staggering weight loss of more than 19kg and is experiencing enduring, recurring pain,” the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said in a statement. Lack of access to appropriate treatment was placing her life in immediate danger, they said.

Cardiology specialists familiar with her case told the family that Mohammadi required urgent, specialised medical care. Doctors said her complex cardiac history, including multiple previous angioplasties, meant any further surgery must be carried out by her own doctors in a fully equipped hospital in Tehran, and that the facilities in Zanjan were inadequate.

The activist’s Oslo-based brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, said the family was “shattered”.

“The specialists have been clear: keeping her in that prison, under that immense stress and those brutal conditions, is like a death sentence. They can’t even adjust her medication because it’s too dangerous without her full medical team present. We are not just fighting for her freedom any more; we are fighting for her heart to keep beating.”

Her children said they were also deeply worried about their mother’s wellbeing. In a message to the Guardian, Mohammadi’s Paris-based daughter, Kiana Rahmani, said: “My mother’s body is simply exhausted. After more than 10 years behind bars and so many hunger strikes, her heart is struggling; she already has a stent from a previous surgery, and now she faces daily headaches, high blood pressure and constant chest pains.

“Even now, in Zanjan prison, as she suffers through that pain, the authorities cruelly deny her the medical care she desperately needs,” he said.

Her son, Ali, said his mother was being punished for speaking up for “those who were executed, killed, imprisoned and disappeared in Iran”.

“She is incredibly brave, like all the other women and people of Iran, and I admire all of them. The Islamic republic must release all political prisoners in Iran immediately,” he said.

Before her re-arrest in late 2025, Mohammadi had already spent more than a decade behind bars, and was sentenced in February 2026 to an additional seven and a half years in prison. The charges against her have included collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran’s government. Mohammadi openly supported the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, and has campaigned for women’s rights, the abolition of the death penalty and an improvement of prison conditions in Iran.

“A woman who has received 44 years of sentence in her lifetime, already spent more than 10 years of her life behind bars, 161 days in solitary confinement and faces at least 18 more years of imprisonment and 154 lashes for her peaceful activism, now needs our collective voice,” the foundation said.

Kiana said she still had hope that her mother would soon be released.

“Today marks her 138th day in this current arrest, but as my mom always tells us, we must keep hope. So, I am hoping the world finally hears my voice and refuses to stay silent. I hope for the day she and all political prisoners are free and reunited with their loved ones.”