Summary: Narges Mohammadi, the Iranian human rights activist awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize while detained, has been urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in Zanjan after what her family foundation describes as a "catastrophic deterioration of her health," including a "cardiac crisis" and repeated loss of consciousness.
Family members running the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the transfer to the hospital occurred after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed at the detention facility. The foundation said this decision followed "two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis," and characterised the move as a "desperate, last-minute" measure that might be insufficient to address her critical needs.
The secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded Mohammadi the 2023 prize, conveyed concern that her condition had worsened after she suffered a heart attack while in custody. Mohammadi, who is in her 50s, received the Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned for her campaign to advance women’s rights and to abolish the death penalty in Iran.
The foundation reported that on Friday morning she fainted after days marked by dangerously high blood pressure and severe nausea. According to the statement, she experienced multiple bouts of vomiting, lost consciousness, and was initially taken to the prison medical unit where she received emergency intravenous fluids before being moved to the hospital.
Her family emphasised the severity of the situation, noting that Mohammadi has undergone three angioplasty procedures and faces a "direct and immediate" threat to her right to life. The statement concluded with an urgent call for legal relief: "We call for all charges to be dropped immediately and for all sentences imposed for her peaceful human rights work to be unconditionally annulled."
The foundation also said in February that Mohammadi had been sentenced to a new prison term of 7-1/2 years. The available account did not include full context for some of the timing details referenced around that sentencing.
Authorities arrested Mohammadi in December after she denounced the death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi. Prosecutor Hasan Hematifar told reporters at the time that she had made provocative remarks at Alikordi’s memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad and encouraged those present "to chant norm-breaking slogans" and "disturb the peace."
The foundation's announcement also noted that earlier medical recommendations had called for Mohammadi to be treated by her specialized medical team in Tehran, a course that prison doctors determined was not feasible on-site. Independent verification of the foundation’s statement was not immediately available.
Context and next steps: The family and foundation have framed the transfer to a hospital as a critical, time-sensitive response to a rapidly deteriorating medical condition. They have asked for the immediate dropping of all charges related to her peaceful activism and for annulment of sentences connected to that work. The statements from the foundation and from judicial officials present conflicting perspectives on the events that led to her detention and the circumstances surrounding her arrest.