The Iranian regime is intensifying its inhumane practice of deliberately denying essential medical treatment to political prisoners, a tactic tantamount to torture designed to crush dissent. This criminal escalation, described by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in a statement on May 10, 2025, as a “well-known tactic,” is pushing several prisoners, many with links to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) or their families, towards irreversible harm or death. The urgency of their plight demands immediate international attention.
Fifteen years of injustice and ongoing medical neglect: Maryam Akbari Monfared
The lives of several political prisoners hang precariously in the balance due to the regime’s obstruction of urgent medical care.
Maryam Akbari Monfared, a potent symbol of resilience against the regime, has endured 15 years of imprisonment, currently in the notorious Qarchak Prison, without a single day of medical leave. She suffers from a severe spinal cord injury and a herniated disc, conditions that place her under the imminent threat of paralysis. Despite the critical need for treatment in a specialized hospital, authorities persistently deny her access. Her only “crime” is “seeking justice for her sister and three brothers—members of the PMOI—who were executed by regime henchmen during the 1980s and in the 1988 massacre.”
This denial of care is compounded by a relentless pattern of persecution. After completing her original 15-year prison term in October 2021, the regime fabricated a new case against her, charging her with “spreading falsehoods” and “propaganda against the state,” resulting in an additional two-year sentence and transfer to Qarchak Prison in October 2024. As highlighted in a July report by UN Special Rapporteur Javaid Rehman, Ms. Akbari Monfared is a “poignant example illustrating this pattern of harassment and persecution.” Mr. Rehman noted that authorities informed her that her release was contingent on “retracting her call for accountability regarding her siblings’ murder.”
Targeting dissenters: further cases of denied care
The regime’s cruel campaign of medical neglect extends to other political prisoners, particularly those with ties to the PMOI or who symbolize resistance. Azar Korvandi, 63, held in Evin Prison, faces a dire situation. She urgently requires angiography for heart disease and surgery for a torn shoulder tendon, in addition to treatment for severe bone and joint pain. Doctors have emphasized the critical need for her surgery, especially given her history of cancer which necessitates continuous medical supervision. Ms. Korvandi, who was a political prisoner in the 1980s, has been newly sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “collaborating with the PMOI.”
Similarly, Marzieh Farsi, 56, a cancer survivor imprisoned in Evin, is being denied essential medical attention for persistent dizziness. Ms. Farsi was arrested in Tehran in August 2023 and had previously endured three years in prison. Her brother, Hassan Farsi, a PMOI member, was a victim of the 1988 massacre, executed by the regime.
Life-threatening delays for prisoners in critical need
Ahmadreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian academic sentenced to death and imprisoned for nine years, recently suffered a heart attack in Evin Prison. Instead of receiving immediate specialized attention, regime authorities merely transferred him to the prison infirmary. His wife reported on May 9, 2025, via the X platform: “Ahmadreza suffered a heart attack last night. He was transferred to the infirmary of Evin Prison. He has been informed that he cannot be examined by a cardiologist until Sunday.” This deliberate delay for a heart attack victim is a stark example of the regime’s cruelty.
The suffering of Motalleb Ahmadian, an ethnic Kurdish political prisoner held since 2009 without any leave, further exemplifies this crisis. Mr. Ahmadian is battling multiple severe illnesses, including duodenal cancer, spinal canal stenosis, ulcerative colitis, and kidney failure. Due to the regime’s calculated delays in hospital transfer, he endures what the NCRI describes as “increasing and unbearable pain.” In a desperate protest against this medical neglect, Mr. Ahmadian, serving a 30-year sentence in Evin Prison’s Ward 4, began a hunger strike on Wednesday, May 2, 2025.
A deliberate tactic of state-sponsored torture
This systematic denial of medical care is not a matter of negligence but a calculated and cruel strategy employed by the Iranian regime to punish and break political dissidents. The NCRI, in its May 10, 2025, statement, unequivocally described the regime’s actions as a “criminal act,” emphasizing that “denying sick prisoners access to medical treatment and torturing them to death is a well-known tactic of the Iranian regime.”
This assessment is consistent with previous warnings. In April 2025, political prisoner, Kamran Rezaei-Far, who was battling cancer while being denied adequate care. At the time, the NCRI stated 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.” This inhumane practice is a core component of the regime’s broader assault on political prisoners, especially those affiliated with the PMOI or individuals like Maryam Akbari Monfared, who bravely demand accountability for past atrocities such as the 1988 massacre of over 30,000 political prisoners, a significant number of whom were PMOI members and supporters.
The escalating medical torture inflicted upon Iranian political prisoners constitutes a grave violation of human rights and a direct threat to their lives. The cases of Ahmadreza Djalali, Maryam Akbari Monfared, Motalleb Ahmadian, Azar Korvandi, and Marzieh Farsi are stark indicators of a regime willing to use any means, however cruel, to silence opposition. The Iranian Resistance urgently calls upon the UN Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, and all other international human rights bodies, as well as the European Union and its member states, “to take immediate action for the immediate release of all sick political prisoners.” Swift and decisive international intervention is critical to save these lives and hold the clerical regime accountable for its systematic crimes.