Narges Mohammadi shifted to hospital after prison cardiac crisis

Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi hasbeen urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwesternIran after a “catastrophic deterioration” of her health, herfoundation said Friday.

The Narges MohammadiFoundation said the Nobel Prize laureate had two episodes of completeloss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis.

Earlier Friday,Mohammadi had fainted twice in prison in Zanjan in northwestern Iran,according to the foundation. She was believed to have suffered aheart attack in late March, according to her lawyers who visited hera few days after the incident. At the time, she appeared pale,underweight and needed a nurse to help her walk.

The hospitaltransfer comes “after 140 days of systematic medical neglect,”since her arrest on Dec. 12, the foundation said.

“This transfer wasdone as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined hercondition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medicalrecommendations that she be treated by her specialized team inTehran,” the foundation said.

Help may be littletoo late, family says

Mohammadi’s familyhad advocated for her transfer to adequate medical facilities forweeks.

The foundation,quoting her family, said her transfer Friday to a hospital in Zanjanwas “a desperate, ‘last-minute’ action that may be too late toaddress her critical needs.”

Mohammadi's brotherHamidreza Mohammadi, who lives in Oslo, Norway, said in an audiomessage shared with The Associated Press by the foundation that herfamily is “fighting for her life.”

“My family in Iranis doing everything they can. But the prosecutors in Zanjan areblocking everything,” he said.

On March 24, NargesMohammadi’s fellow inmates found her unconscious, her lawyers saidshe told them during the visit a few days later. Upon laterexamination at the prison’s clinic, a doctor told her that sheprobably had had a heart attack. She had chest pain and breathingdifficulties since.

Her legalrepresentative in France, Chirinne Ardakani, said at the time thatMohammadi had been denied transfer to the hospital or to visit hercardiologist. A prison official was present throughout the briefvisit by Mohammadi’s lawyers.

Won the Nobel PeacePrize in 2023

Mohammadi, 53, arights lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while in prison,was arrested in December during a visit to the eastern Iranian cityof Mashhad and sentenced to seven more years in prison.

Her family said inFebruary that her health was worsening in prison, in part because ofa beating she endured during her arrest in December. He said multiplemen hit and kicked her in her side, head and neck. The Nobelcommittee condemned the “ongoing life-threatening mistreatment”of Mohammadi in a statement in February.

“In recent days,her blood pressure has experienced severe fluctuations, going veryhigh and low, and today she suddenly fainted due to a sudden drop inblood pressure,” her lawyer Mostafa Nili posted on X.

At first, the prisondoctor injected Mohammadi with drugs but she refused to betransferred to a hospital, demanding to see her cardiologist. A fewhours later, Mohammadi fainted again. This time a neurologist orderedher immediate transfer to a hospital, the lawyer added.

Mohammadi wasurgently transferred to the hospital and admitted to the cardiac careunit, “but her blood pressure continues to fluctuate severely,”Nili wrote. He said a medical official in Zanjan recommended aone-month suspension of her sentence for treatment, but the publicprosecutor in Zanjan referred the matter to his counterpart inTehran.

Prior to her arrestDec. 12, Mohammadi had already been serving a sentence of 13 yearsand nine months on charges of collusion against state security andpropaganda against Iran’s government, but had been released onfurlough since late 2024 over medical concerns.

Continued heractivism on furlough

During thatfurlough, Mohammadi kept up her activism with public protests andinternational media appearances, including demonstrating in front ofTehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where she had been held.

In February, aRevolutionary Court in Mashhad sentenced Mohammadi to an additionalseven years. Such courts typically issue verdicts with little or noopportunity for defendants to contest their charges.

Mohammadi sufferedmultiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergencysurgery in 2022, her supporters say.

In 2023, Mohammadibecame the fifth laureate to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize whilein prison, further amplifying her voice in support of widespreadprotests that swept Iran after the death the year before of MahsaAmini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for notproperly wearing the mandatory headscarf.

Her selectionenraged Iran’s hard-line Shiite theocracy, which increased herprison time and later sent guards to rough her up along with otherprisoners who were protesting inside Evin Prison.

Yet Mohammadiremained defiant, even issuing boycott calls for the 2024 electionthat President Masoud Pezeshkian won. She maintained that one dayIran’s government would change due to popular pressure.

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