Iranian Political Prisoners Beaten, Forcibly Transferred, and Deprived of Medical Care

Iran – Political Prisoners

Beating of Maasoumeh Sanobarí in Fardis Prison of Karaj, Transfer of Bijan Kazemi to a Safe House, Critical Health Conditions of Azar Korvandi and Mohammad Akbari Monfared

Call for Urgent Action for the Release of Political Prisoners

On Sunday, July 6, 2025, during a ceremony in the exercise yard of Fardis Prison in Karaj commemorating Ashura, female prisoners chanted: “Salutations to Hossein, Death to Khamenei, Curse on Khomeini.” After the ceremony, Zahra Kolivand, the prison’s deputy director for women’s affairs, took political prisoner Maasoumeh Sanobarí—an activist affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)—to the ward office, where she was brutally beaten and tortured with punches, kicks, and slaps. The bruises from this assault remained visible on her face for hours afterward.

Maasoumeh Sanobarí, 37, and a mother of one, was arrested in December 2022 during the uprising and was severely tortured in the IRGC Intelligence Detention Center. Due to lashings, she became unable to walk. Blows to her head caused blurred vision, and her shin was fractured, causing prolonged suffering. She spent 13 months in solitary confinement in Fardis Prison and, in March 2023, was sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of “participation in actions against national security through membership in the PMOI” and “propaganda against the regime.” Previously, she had also been imprisoned from 2018 to 2021.

On July 1, 2025, political prisoner Bijan Kazemi was transferred from solitary confinement in Fashafuyeh Prison to an undisclosed location. In a brief phone call, he informed his family that he was being held in a “safe house.” Bijan, 44, was arrested on January 20, 2025, in Kuhdasht (Lorestan province) and was transferred a few days later to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. After Evin was cleared out, he was transferred to Fashafuyeh.

Azar Korvandi, 63, who suffers from heart disease, was placed on oxygen therapy last week at the infirmary of Qarchak Prison in Varamin. She has long needed an urgent angiography, and doctors have warned that she must be treated immediately outside of prison. However, prison authorities are preventing her transfer. In addition, due to a history of cancer, she must remain under medical supervision. Azar is a political prisoner from the 1980s and has currently been sentenced to five years in prison for “collaboration with the PMOI.”

Mohammad Akbari Monfared, 58, who is paralyzed in both legs, endures extremely harsh conditions, especially in Fashafuyeh Prison, where he is held without a wheelchair and cannot perform basic personal tasks. He suffers from heart disease, neurological issues, prostate problems, and high blood pressure. He has repeatedly been threatened with execution by prison officials. Mohammad was arrested on January 21, 2025, and spent five months in solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. He is a political prisoner from the 1980s and was also imprisoned during the 2022 uprising for a while.

The Iranian Resistance calls on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, and all human rights and women’s rights defenders to condemn the inhumane treatment of political prisoners—particularly women—by the Iranian regime. It also calls for an international fact-finding mission to visit Iran’s prisons and meet with prisoners, especially political prisoners and women.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

10 July 2025