Iranian Nobel laureate hospitalized following "catastrophic" health crisis

• 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi was rushed to a hospital in Zanjan after suffering a "severe cardiac crisis" and losing consciousness.
• The Narges Mohammadi Foundation reports her condition remains unstable and is calling for an immediate transfer to Tehran for specialized care.

Imprisoned human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was hospitalized in unstable condition on Saturday following what her family’s foundation described as a "catastrophic deterioration" of her health.

The 52-year-old activist was urgently transferred from prison to a medical facility in Zanjan on Friday. According to a statement from the Narges Mohammadi Foundation, the move became an "unavoidable necessity" after prison doctors determined her condition -marked by high blood pressure, severe nausea, and two episodes of complete loss of consciousness- could no longer be managed on-site.

Life in the balance

The foundation reported that Mohammadi fainted on Friday morning after days of dangerously elevated blood pressure. Following multiple bouts of vomiting and a subsequent blackout, she was moved to the prison’s medical unit for emergency intravenous fluids before being transferred to the hospital.

As of Saturday morning, Mohammadi remains on oxygen and is in unstable condition. Her family is urgently calling for her transfer to a specialized facility in Tehran.

Having already undergone three angioplasty procedures in the past, her family warns that the current cardiac crisis poses a "direct and immediate" threat to her life.

International concern

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded Mohammadi the Peace Prize in 2023 for her tireless campaign against the death penalty and for women's rights, expressed deep concern earlier this week.

Secretary Olav Njølstad noted on Thursday that reports of a heart attack suffered within the prison walls were alarming.

The Committee has repeatedly called for her immediate and unconditional release, particularly following her most recent sentencing in February 2024 to an additional seven-and-a-half years in prison.

Context of detention

Mohammadi’s current imprisonment follows her arrest in December 2023. Iranian authorities detained her after she denounced the death of lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, with prosecutors accusing her of making "provocative remarks" during a memorial service.

Her hospitalization comes during a period of intense regional instability, with Iran still reeling from the fallout of the February 2026 conflict with the US and 'Israel'.

"We call for all charges to be dropped immediately and for all sentences imposed for her peaceful human rights work to be unconditionally annulled," the foundation’s statement concluded.

For now, the focus of the international community remains on whether the Iranian government will allow the specialized medical intervention her family insists is the only way to save her life.