The hospitalization has intensified international calls for Mohammadi’s release and renewed scrutiny of Iran’s handling of political prisoners with serious medical needs. The women’s rights advocate, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned, has long campaigned against the death penalty, prison abuse and restrictions on women in Iran.
Narges Mohammadi health emergency intensifies release calls
The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the hospital transfer followed 140 days of “systematic medical neglect” since her Dec. 12, 2025, arrest. Reuters reported that the foundation described the transfer as an unavoidable step after prison doctors determined her condition could not be treated on-site, while noting it could not immediately verify the foundation’s account.
Mohammadi’s family had warned that her condition was deteriorating rapidly. Days before the transfer, the Guardian cited relatives and lawyers who said she had suffered a suspected heart attack, lost nearly 20 kilograms and needed care from her own cardiac team in Tehran.
Rights groups also raised alarms before the emergency transfer. FIDH said April 1 that Mohammadi had been found unconscious March 24 with signs consistent with a reported heart attack, but authorities had not transferred her to a hospital or allowed her to see a specialist.
The latest episode has widened pressure on Iran. The Nobel Women’s Initiative issued an urgent humanitarian appeal calling for independent specialized medical care, international coordination and Mohammadi’s immediate and unconditional release.
Older reports show how Narges Mohammadi’s medical fight deepened
The dispute over medical care did not begin this spring. In November 2023, Reuters reported that Mohammadi began a hunger strike after activist media said authorities refused to let her go to a hospital for heart and lung treatment because she would not wear a mandatory headscarf.
In December 2024, Reuters reported she was released from Evin prison for medical treatment after a temporary suspension of her jail term following surgery. The reprieve came amid concern from the Norwegian Nobel Committee over her ongoing illness and pain.
That reprieve did not last. In December 2025, Reuters reported that Mohammadi had been hospitalized twice after what her family called a violent arrest at a memorial service in Mashhad.
In February, Reuters reported that she received a new prison term of 7 1/2 years, including six years for assembly and collusion against national security and 1 1/2 years for propaganda against the government, according to the Narges Foundation.
What advocates are demanding now
Advocates say hospital treatment alone is not enough if Mohammadi is returned to the same prison conditions they contend contributed to the crisis. They are seeking independent medical access, transfer to her doctors in Tehran, suspension of her sentence and unconditional release.
For Mohammadi’s supporters, the hospitalization is not an isolated emergency but part of a longer pattern: repeated imprisonment, interrupted treatment, renewed prosecution and escalating physical danger. Her condition now places renewed pressure on Iranian authorities and on international institutions watching whether a temporary hospital transfer becomes lasting medical relief and freedom.
