Zeynab Jalalian, the longest-held and only female political prisoner serving a life sentence in Iran, is being denied transfer to specialist medical facilities despite a sharp deterioration in her health at Yazd Central Prison, under the pretext of wartime restrictions on hospital transfers.
Jalalian continues to suffer from a uterine fibroid, and doctors have recommended that she be sent to outside medical centres for follow-up to an earlier embolisation procedure, but her transfer has been repeatedly refused.
A well-informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN): “In late September of last year, following repeated demands from human rights bodies and mounting international pressure, this political prisoner, who had been suffering from a uterine fibroid for months, underwent fibroid embolisation at a medical centre outside Yazd prison. However, just 24 hours after the procedure, and before her course of treatment had been completed, she was returned to prison.”
According to the source, Jalalian’s bleeding and abdominal pain have continued at an alarming rate in the months since the procedure, and she has also developed severe anaemia.
Since the outbreak of the war between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran on the other, prison officials have suspended transfers of sick prisoners to outside medical facilities under the pretext of war conditions, and repeated requests from Jalalian and other sick prisoners for transfer to specialist centres have been rejected each time.
The source added: “The severity of Zeynab Jalalian’s abdominal pain and bleeding in the past week has been such that for several days she has not even been able to get out of bed, and she is in a critical physical state. During this period, doctors at the prison infirmary have stated that some of her uterine fibroids have likely regrown, and they have called for her immediate transfer to medical centres outside the prison so that her physical condition can be assessed by means of ultrasound and MRI scans.”
On 16 September 2025, 22 human rights organisations and 13 human rights defenders issued a joint statement, coordinated by REDRESS and the KHRN, stressing the urgent need for Jalalian to be granted access to medical care, and calling for an end to her harassment and the threats against her, and for her unconditional release.
At the same time, Jalalian published a letter describing her years of imprisonment, torture, and deprivation of family visits and medical treatment. She wrote: “After nearly 20 years in a place like this, you are forced into a collective way of living. Diseases, skin conditions, mental and psychological issues come for you. Worst of all, the poor prison diet leads to a wide range of physical illnesses. And as a political prisoner, you are subject to even more restrictions. Even when a doctor diagnoses you and confirms you need medication, you receive no treatment.”
She added: “Despite the medical diagnosis clearly stating that I should be released due to my condition and undergo surgery, the prison authorities forwarded the report to the Legal Medicine Organisation. After a long wait, they responded by saying I am ‘fit to remain in prison’. Despite all this pain, suffering and illness, I am happy, because I have endured all of it in the pursuit of freedom. That means I stand on the right side of history.”
Earlier, on 1 May, nine United Nations Special Rapporteurs voiced serious concern over Jalalian’s prolonged and arbitrary detention, deteriorating health, and reports of torture and other forms of mistreatment. They urged the Iranian authorities to ensure her immediate and unconditional access to adequate medical care in an independent civilian hospital, warning that “time is of the essence”.
In recent years, Jalalian has been denied the right to family visits, and due to multiple illnesses, the Legal Medicine Organisation of Yazd has stated that she is not fit to endure imprisonment. However, security agencies have conditioned her release on “expressing remorse and repentance”.
Born in 1982 in the village of Dim Qeshlaq in Maku, West Azerbaijan Province, Jalalian has been imprisoned since 26 February 2008 and has been denied the right to furlough and, for most of these years, the right to family visits.
Despite suffering from several serious illnesses during her imprisonment, Jalalian has been repeatedly transferred between different prisons under harsh and unlawful conditions, often with physical violence.
In 2008, Jalalian was sentenced to death on charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh), which was commuted to life imprisonment in 2011.
Throughout her detention and imprisonment, she has been subjected to severe torture. Even after 17 years in prison, she continues to face immense pressure from Iran’s security agencies, and any approval for medical treatment or temporary leave is contingent on her expressing remorse for her actions.
Her lawyer, Amir-Salar Davoudi, has consistently argued that her continued imprisonment is illegal under the revised Islamic Penal Code and that she must be released.
