In recent years, reports of severe human rights violations within Iran’s prison system have surged. Political prisoners and government critics face systematic physical and psychological abuse. The Iranian regime employs ruthless measures to eliminate political dissidents, including staged suicides, enforced illness, and assassination.
A particularly harrowing tactic, sometimes labeled as “biological assassination,” involves administering psychoactive drugs and inducing autoimmune diseases. These methods lead to devastating physical and mental decline, stripping prisoners of their will and control, reminiscent of Nazi atrocities and inhumane medical experiments on captives.
Torture and Abuse
Physical and psychological torture is integral to the detention and imprisonment of political prisoners in Iran. Reports document various violent tactics, including beatings, sexual abuse, and verbal degradation intended to dismantle prisoners’ self-esteem.
Gendered abuse is especially prevalent against detained women. Interrogators often subject women to derogatory language and psychological pressure. Numerous accounts report incidents where male interrogators physically touch female detainees and even assault them.
One particularly distressing case involves Soada Khadirzadeh, a Kurdish political prisoner. When arrested in the summer of 2022 while pregnant, she was detained in Urmia—a northwestern Iranian city—and subjected to severe torture and death-threatening interrogations, leading her to a failed suicide attempt.
She was pressured to make a false confession on camera; otherwise, her interrogators threatened to fabricate a psychiatric report on her, which would lead to her newborn’s removal to state welfare.
In an audio recording, Soada courageously documented the verbal and sexual harassment she endured from Ministry of Intelligence agents, who sought her confession for allegedly aiding her husband’s escape from Iran.
Such torture not only inflicts physical harm but also brings intense psychological trauma, driving prisoners to severe depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.
During the nationwide protests of 2022, the regime consistently mischaracterized protester deaths under detention, often attributing them to “heart attacks,” “falls,” or “suicide” to obscure the brutal violence inflicted by state forces.
Induced Autoimmune Diseases
A disturbing method used to control and torment prisoners involves administering specific drugs to induce autoimmune diseases. Conditions like Multiple Sclerosis (MS), lupus, and psoriasis—chronic and often debilitating diseases that attack the body’s immune system—are reportedly forced upon detainees through manipulated drug regimens. These diseases weaken prisoners, leaving them unable to resist the grueling psychological and physical pressures.
Victims’ accounts, supported by lawyers, doctors, and medical examinations, reveal that prisoners are administered psychoactive drugs or substances that disrupt their immune defenses. This can lead to movement impairments or other autoimmune disorders, and under the pretense of “treatment,” some are even subjected to electroshock therapy.
The Forced Illnesses of Female Political Prisoners
Yasaman Rezaei Babadi, a psychology graduate, was detained twice during protests and again in late July 2023 in Karaj, a city near Tehran. Her second arrest led to a three-month forced stay in Imam Hossein Psychiatric Hospital, sanctioned by detention center officials.
Following a video of Roya Zakeri chanting slogans against “Ali Khamenei,” she was arrested on October 15, 2023. Roya was then admitted to the women’s ward of Razi Psychiatric Hospital in Tabriz, northwest Iran, and denied all visitors.
Beyond the psychological suffering inflicted on political prisoners, widespread reports confirm that the regime inflicts physical illnesses as well.
Activist Atena Daemi, who endured seven years in prison, developed MS while detained. Another former student activist, Motahareh Gouneii, suffered from MS that had been dormant for five years but relapsed under prison conditions. Zeynab Khoniabpour, an opposition figure, developed psoriasis after her release, noticing skin spots that progressively worsened until diagnosed as an autoimmune disease.
In numerous other cases, female political prisoners developed autoimmune diseases after their detention, which doctors attributed to drug interactions.
Psychoactive Drug Administration
Reports also indicate that political prisoners are sometimes forced to ingest suspicious drugs or receive psychoactive injections. Among the possible victims of such crimes is Yalda Aghafazli, who tragically ended her life under suspicious circumstances after her release.
Fellow prisoners suggest that some of these suicides or suspicious deaths following release result from the effects of radioactive substances or psychoactive drug injections during detention.
Dress Syndrome and Other Autoimmune Diseases
One of the autoimmune conditions reportedly induced by suspicious drugs in Iran’s prisons is Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms (DRESS) syndrome. This severe autoimmune disorder, triggered by certain medications, causes intense inflammation and has emerged among prisoners as a tool for debilitating and even killing those opposing the Iranian regime.
Suspicious Deaths After Release
Aside from autoimmune diseases, there have been reports of suspicious deaths following prisoners’ releases. One example is the tragic case of attorney Maryam Arvin, who died under suspicious circumstances shortly after her release. Her mother disclosed that prison authorities administered an IV under the pretext of a sedative, and her death was later attributed to drug poisoning.
Similarly, former political prisoner Sara Tabrizi died under suspicious circumstances, which the medical examiner attributed to “pill ingestion.” Only weeks before her death, this 20-year-old woman had endured extreme psychological pressure from security agents.
Urgent International Response Needed
Iran’s clerical regime employs ruthless measures, including enforced suicides, induced illnesses, and assassinations, to weaken and eliminate political dissidents. Political prisoners are among the most vulnerable victims of these brutal practices. The international community must act swiftly to condemn and further isolate this illegitimate regime, recognizing the Iranian people’s struggle for freedom and supporting political prisoners and protesters alike.
