Concerns are mounting for political prisoners in Iran, among them a Nobel Laureate imprisoned alongside other activists for opposing the regime amid military strikes by the United States and Israel.
“The historical record demonstrates that the Islamic Republic has consistently and systematically used wartime conditions to intensify violence against political prisoners,” the Paris office of 2023 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Narges Mohammadi said in a statement shared with TIME.
The Narges Foundation expressed it was “deeply worried” about Mohammadi, who, following being , is presently imprisoned in Zanjan, a city northwest of Tehran that experienced a massive on Saturday.
Following the commencement of the most recent U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Saturday, relatives of inmates assembled at the prison entrances, yet received no updates, according to the Iran Human Rights Society. The organization stated it had received reports indicating some personnel had fled the facility, and meals were not being provided to certain sections.
“My heart aches for my mother and for every person confined behind prison walls now more than ever,” stated Mohammadi’s daughter, Kiana Rahmani, in the statement. “They are caught between the brutality of a harsh regime and the frightening roar of explosions outside.”
In no small part due to the activists they hold, Iran’s prisons have frequently drawn media attention. Mohammadi, previously a journalist, that erupted in Evin during the 2023 demonstrations following the death of a young woman detained for breaching Iran’s stringent female dress regulations. Her foundation highlighted accounts of food scarcity and reduced medical attention at two additional facilities, Qezelhesar and Lakan.
“There are also serious worries that, amid ongoing information blackouts, executions may be conducted covertly without informing attorneys or relatives of those detained.” In 2025, Iran executed over 2,000 individuals, which one human rights expert described as “