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Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been hospitalized after her health sharply deteriorated in detention, with her family and the Nobel Committee warning that her life may be at risk.
Mohammadi, 54, was transferred from a prison in northwestern Iran to a local hospital on Friday, according to her family. Her brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, told the BBC that the move came at the “last moment” and may have been delayed too long.
“Her blood pressure dropped seriously and has not yet stabilized,” he said.
A foundation set up by Mohammadi’s family said she was taken to a hospital in Zanjan after a “catastrophic deterioration” in her condition, following 140 days of what it described as arbitrary detention and repeated denial of specialist medical care.
Her brother said Mohammadi’s current problems include low blood pressure and a heart attack.
He added that her medical history, including a previous pulmonary embolism and heart stents, makes the facilities in Zanjan insufficient for her treatment.
The family says she should be transferred to a hospital in Tehran, where doctors who treated her previously are based.
Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, supported the call for urgent medical care, telling Reuters that Mohammadi’s life was at risk.
Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, was rearrested in December after criticizing Iranian authorities.
Her brother said last month that she had been found unconscious in Zanjan Prison and may have suffered a heart attack, despite existing heart, lung and blood pressure problems.
Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes over the course of her activism.
She began serving a 13-year sentence in 2021 on charges including “propaganda against the state” and “collaboration against national security,” which she denied.
She was temporarily released from Tehran’s Evin Prison in December 2024 on medical grounds but continued her activities during treatment. After speaking at a memorial ceremony in Mashhad last December, she was detained again.
Her family said she was beaten during the arrest and taken to the hospital.
In early February, a Revolutionary Court sentenced her to an additional 7.5 years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion” and “propaganda.”
Soon after, she was transferred without prior notice to Zanjan Prison, where her family says her contact with relatives has been limited.
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