Iranian human rights champion Narges Mohammadi, recipient of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, has been rushed to a hospital following a severe heart emergency, according to a foundation established by her family.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s secretary voiced alarm Thursday regarding the deteriorating health of the imprisoned activist, who reportedly suffered a heart attack while incarcerated.
Mohammadi, now in her fifties, received the prestigious award while behind bars for her efforts promoting women’s rights and working to eliminate capital punishment in Iran.
According to a Friday statement from the Narges Mohammadi Foundation, the activist “was urgently transferred to a hospital in Zanjan today following a catastrophic deterioration of her health, including two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis.”
The foundation explained that “This transfer was done as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medical recommendations that she be treated by her specialized team in Tehran.”
Reuters was unable to independently verify the foundation’s statement, which characterized her hospital transfer as a “desperate, last-minute” action that may be insufficient to address her critical medical situation.
According to the foundation, Mohammadi received an additional 7-1/2 year prison sentence in February, with the Nobel committee demanding Tehran release her without delay.
Her December arrest followed her public criticism of attorney Khosrow Alikordi’s death. Prosecutor Hasan Hematifar stated at the time that she delivered inflammatory comments during Alikordi’s memorial service in Mashhad and urged attendees “to chant norm-breaking slogans” and “disturb the peace.”
Friday morning brought a medical crisis when Mohammadi collapsed after experiencing days of severely elevated blood pressure and intense nausea, the foundation reported. Following repeated vomiting episodes, she lost consciousness and required emergency transport to the prison’s medical facility for urgent intravenous treatment.
Having previously undergone three angioplasty procedures, the activist now faces what her family describes as a “direct and immediate” danger to her survival. “We call for all charges to be dropped immediately and for all sentences imposed for her peaceful human rights work to be unconditionally annulled,” they stated.
