Nobel Laureate Needs Months of Treatment After Collapse in Iran Prison

Doctors who examined Nobel Peace laureate and activist Narges Mohammadi more than a week after she collapsed at a prison in Iran say she needs months of treatment, her foundation said Wednesday. An angiography procedure showed two of her main arteries have significant blockage and that her vascular disease has significantly deteriorated since she last had the procedure in 2024, the foundation said in a statement.

Mohammadi, 53, was urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran on May 1 after she fell unconscious.

She was released on bail nearly 10 days later and transferred to a hospital in Tehran where her specialists examined her. The attending physician said her blood pressure continues to fluctuate, in part due to damage to part of the brain that is responsible for such regulations.

The doctors recommended an eight-month treatment course in an environment free from external stressors, where she can receive permanent care and long-term treatment.

Her foundation and dozens of Nobel Prize laureates have called for the unconditional release of Mohammadi, a vocal advocate of human and women’s rights. She was awarded the Nobel in 2023 while in prison and has been jailed repeatedly throughout her career. Her latest imprisonment began in December when she was arrested in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.

Her family has said that her health had been deteriorating in prison, in part because she was heavily beaten during her arrest. She had a heart attack in March and has had a blood clot in her lung since before her imprisonment that needs blood thinners and monitoring to manage it.