Nobel Peace laureate and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has been moved to a Tehran hospital more than a week after collapsing in prison, her foundation said. The transfer follows intensive appeals from family and supporters who had described her condition as critical.
The foundation said authorities have suspended her prison sentence and allowed her to leave custody on bail, but it did not specify how long the suspension will last. The foundation added that a temporary suspension is insufficient and called for “permanent, specialized care,” urging that she never be returned to prison to face the roughly 18 years remaining on her sentence. The statement demanded her unconditional release and the dismissal of all charges.
Mohammadi, 53, had been jailed in Zanjan prison since December. She lost consciousness twice and was taken to a local hospital on May 1 before the more recent transfer to Tehran. Her Iran-based lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said the move was ordered after the Legal Medicine Organization — the state medical examiners — determined that, because of multiple illnesses, she needs continued treatment outside prison and under the supervision of her own medical team.
There was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities.
Her brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, who lives in Oslo, said medical examiners had previously recommended a transfer to Tehran but that decision had been blocked, which he attributed to Iran’s intelligence agency. He said he felt relieved after the latest transfer.
Mohammadi, a longtime campaigner for women’s rights and other civil liberties, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while imprisoned. She has been jailed repeatedly during her activism; her current detention followed an arrest in the northeastern city of Mashhad.
Her family says her health deteriorated in custody after heavy beatings during the arrest. They report she suffered a heart attack in March and has a preexisting blood clot in her lung that requires blood-thinning medication and close monitoring. While at Zanjan hospital’s cardiac care unit, her blood pressure reportedly fluctuated between dangerously low and very high levels; she has been receiving oxygen and, according to her brother, was unable to speak.
The Nobel Committee had urged Iranian authorities to allow Mohammadi to receive care from her dedicated medical team in Tehran, warning that without such treatment her life is at risk.