Lead

The family and legal team of jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi say her health is critical after a suspected heart attack last month, with her condition deteriorating significantly while she remains in prison, according to multiple reports.

Mohammadi, 54, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her decades of activism, was re-arrested in December 2025 and is being held in Zanjan central prison in northwestern Iran. Her family and legal team were allowed a second in-person visit over the weekend, during which "clear signs of a deterioration in her general condition were observed, and her physical state was described as critical," according to a statement from the Narges Mohammadi Foundation, as reported by France 24 and the South China Morning Post.

The foundation also reported that Mohammadi has become "extremely weak" and has suffered significant weight loss.

Coverage Comparison

Reports from France 24, The Guardian, and the South China Morning Post broadly agree on the core facts of Mohammadi's critical condition and the circumstances of her detention. All three outlets cite the Narges Mohammadi Foundation and her brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, as primary sources.

However, The Guardian provides additional detail on her medical history, reporting that she has a complex cardiac history, including multiple previous angioplasties, and that specialists have said she requires urgent, specialised care in a fully equipped hospital in Tehran. The Guardian also reports that her weight loss is almost 20kg (44lb), a figure not mentioned in the other two articles.

The Guardian's framing emphasises the family's fear for her life, quoting her brother as saying the family is "shattered" and that keeping her in prison under current conditions "is like a death sentence." France 24 and the South China Morning Post focus more on the objective description of her health decline, though all three attribute the deterioration to inadequate medical care and the conditions of her detention.

Key Claims

  • Critical health condition: All sources report that Mohammadi's health is critical after a heart attack last month. The Guardian specifies it was a suspected heart attack, during which she was found unconscious in her cell.
  • Weight loss: France 24 and the South China Morning Post report "significant weight loss," while The Guardian quantifies it as almost 20kg (44lb). This specific figure is only carried by The Guardian.
  • Inadequate medical care: The Guardian reports that cardiology specialists familiar with her case say she requires urgent, specialised medical care, and that her complex cardiac history means any further surgery must be conducted by her own doctors in a fully equipped hospital in Tehran. The foundation's statement, cited by multiple outlets, says lack of access to appropriate treatment is placing her life in immediate danger.
  • Conditions of detention: Hamidreza Mohammadi, quoted via the foundation's statement, said his sister is being held in a cell with prisoners charged with murder and has been threatened with death by some of these inmates several times. This claim appears in France 24 and the South China Morning Post, and is consistent with The Guardian's broader reporting on the harsh conditions.
  • Arrest and sentencing: Mohammadi was arrested on December 12 in Mashhad after speaking out against Iran's clerical authorities at a funeral ceremony, according to all three sources. France 24 additionally reports that she was handed a further six years in prison on charges of harming national security; this detail is not included in the other two articles.

Temporal Context

Mohammadi was previously released for health reasons in 2024, according to The Guardian, before being re-arrested in December 2025. Her re-arrest occurred before nationwide protests erupted later that month, which peaked in January and were met with a crackdown. In February 2025, she was handed an additional six-year sentence for harming national security and a one-and-a-half-year sentence for propaganda, as reported by France 24. She also staged a hunger strike for almost a week to protest her conditions, though details are limited in the available material.