Iran: Authorities must release Narges Mohammadi and ensure her access to medical care
Image Credit: Voice of America via WikkiCommons
‘We are outraged to see our fellow writer Narges Mohammadi, once again, facing a life-threatening medical negligence in prison. She should never have been imprisoned for a moment, yet we stand to call again for her release from another episode of arbitrary imprisonment while her life is at risk. This cycle of oppression must end now. No one should endure decades of persecution for standing for freedom of expression and promoting human rights and equality for all Iranians,’ said Burhan Sonmez, President of PEN International.
06 May 2026: PEN International condemns the ongoing arbitrary detention of prominent Iranian writer, human rights defender and Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi, and expresses grave concern over her deteriorating health due to the deliberate denial of adequate healthcare. The organisation calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mohammadi, drop all charges against her, and ensure that she has access to urgent and adequate medical care pending her release.
On 1 May, Narges Mohammadi was urgently transferred to a hospital in Zanjan province in north-west Iran following a sharp decline in her health at Zanjan Prison. According to her family, she suffered from fluctuating blood pressure, cardiac and neurological issues that have been exacerbated by months of deliberate medical neglect. Mohammadi requires specialised medical care by competent doctors who can address her complex health issues, which have been compounded by years of arbitrary imprisonment under inhumane detention conditions. Her family said in a statement that they had appealed to the authorities to transfer her to a hospital in Tehran for treatment by doctors familiar with her condition, but their requests were ignored. PEN International has repeatedly raised concerns about Mohammadi’s declining health in detention and warned against the deliberate denial of adequate healthcare she has been subjected to over years of arbitrary imprisonment in retaliation for her peaceful expression.
In December 2025, she was violently arrested in Mashhad city while attending a memorial service for Iranian human rights lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead in suspicious circumstances earlier that month. Her family reported that she was assaulted and received death threats from state security agents who arrested her. In February 2026, she was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison following an unfair trial on trumped-up charges, including ‘gathering and collusion’ and ‘propaganda against the state’, raising the total sentences against her to 44 years, of which 18 years she is yet to serve, 154 lashes and four years of internal exile. In March 2026, grave concerns were raised about her declining health after she reportedly survived a heart attack in prison. However, Iranian authorities ignored repeated demands for her release on medical furlough, or for her transfer to Tehran, where she could access adequate medical care. By refusing to release Mohammadi on medical furlough and failing to guarantee her access to adequate medical care, Iranian authorities are deliberately putting her life at risk.
Additional information
Overshadowed by the US and Israel’s ongoing war on Iran, the situation of those detained on political grounds in the country has become extremely concerning, amid a near-total internet and communications blackout imposed across much of Iran since January 2026, and the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and detention facilities. In March, the World Health Organisation said it verified 13 attacks on health care in Iran, adding more pressure on a health system that is already under strain from years of sanctions. Human rights groups have recently raised concerns over the grave risk of injury and death faced by those held in Iranian detention facilities, which have been targeted by joint US and Israel strikes, including activists and protestors who have been arbitrarily detained for their peaceful expression. These threats exacerbate the repression that detainees already face from the Iranian authorities, including reports of prisoners being denied access to food and water and being subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and other forms of ill treatment, including in retaliation for participating in protests.
For further details on recent updates in Narges Mohammadi’s long history of persecution, please click here.
Note to Editors
For further information, please contact Mina Thabet, Head of the MENA Region at PEN International: [email protected].
For media enquiries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, Head of Communications and Campaigns at PEN International: [email protected].