Iran’s political prisoners are enduring increasingly critical and life-threatening conditions. Among the most harrowing examples are Kamran Rezaei-Far and Maryam Akbari Monfared, whose cases reflect both the systemic neglect and intentional cruelty inflicted on dissidents by the Iranian regime. Denied urgent medical care and subjected to fabricated charges, these prisoners face daily risks to their health and lives in a justice system weaponized against political opposition.
Kamran Rezaei-Far: battling cancer without care
Sixty-year-old Kamran Rezaei-Far’s life is hanging by a thread in Evin Prison, where authorities are actively obstructing his access to necessary medical treatment. Arrested in September 2023 and sentenced to five years on charges of affiliation with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), Rezaei-Far has faced a rapid deterioration in his health.
Initially suffering from a stomach illness in November 2024, the regime’s refusal to provide timely hospital access allowed the condition to worsen into malignant stomach cancer. Though a delayed surgery resulted in the removal of part of his stomach and pancreas, he was forced back into prison without recovery time. Since then, he has developed a pulmonary embolism and now carries a blood clot in his lung. Despite doctors insisting he must undergo chemotherapy, the Ministry of Intelligence, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the prison authorities continue to deny him hospitalization.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued an urgent appeal, calling on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and all international human rights bodies “to take immediate action for the release of political prisoners, especially sick prisoners.” The NCRI emphasized that the deprivation of medical care leading to death is a clear crime against humanity—a tactic the regime employs deliberately to break political dissidents.
Maryam Akbari Monfared: 15 years of injustice and ongoing persecution
Maryam Akbari Monfared, another prominent political prisoner, is currently held in Qarchak Prison under inhumane conditions. She suffers from multiple serious health conditions, including hypothyroidism, liver complications, and severe spinal and neurological damage causing chronic pain, numbness, and sudden knee dysfunction. Despite strong recommendations from a team of five specialists urging immediate surgery, Iranian authorities have continuously blocked access to necessary medical treatment.
The NCRI Women’s Committee reported that prison authorities have even withheld formal responses to medical requests and warned that further delays could cause irreversible nerve damage, loss of mobility, and incontinence. Furthermore, Akbari Monfared is being detained among prisoners convicted of common crimes, a clear breach of the principle of separating prisoners based on charges, thus exposing her to additional risks.
Akbari Monfared had completed her original 15-year prison term in October 2021, having been exiled to Semnan Prison and denied any furlough throughout her incarceration. Yet the regime fabricated a new case against her, charging her with “spreading falsehoods” and “propaganda against the state.” She was consequently sentenced to an additional two years and transferred to Qarchak Prison in October 2024. Adding to her persecution, she and her family now face asset confiscation proceedings initiated by the Execution of Khomeini’s Order Headquarters (EIKO).
The story of Maryam Akbari Monfared is emblematic of the regime’s relentless campaign to break political prisoners physically and emotionally, even after they have served unjustly lengthy sentences.
Worsening conditions for all political prisoners and the wave of executions
The plight of Kamran Rezaei-Far and Maryam Akbari Monfared is not isolated. Iran’s broader political prisoner population is enduring an unprecedented assault under the presidency of Masoud Pezeshkian. Since Pezeshkian assumed office in July 2024, Iran’s regime has executed over 1,050 individuals, including political prisoners, activists from ethnic minority groups, and others convicted after grossly unfair trials. The surge in executions reflects the regime’s growing desperation to quash any sign of dissent.
Alarmingly, Amnesty International recently warned about the imminent risk of execution for two political prisoners, Behrouz Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, following the dismissal of their retrial requests without due process. Both men had endured torture and prolonged solitary confinement, their convictions resting on charges often used to criminalize peaceful opposition such as “waging war against God” and “corruption on earth.”
In just three days this past week, 22 individuals were executed across different cities, illustrating the regime’s ruthless pace—one execution every 3.5 hours. The NCRI has described this surge as a “desperate and brutal campaign” driven by fear of a potential uprising, noting that such acts only deepen public resentment against the ruling establishment.