Political prisoner Azar Korvandi Mousazadeh, 60 years old, held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, is reportedly facing severe health complications while being denied access to proper medical treatment and referral to specialized healthcare centers.
Political prisoner Azar Korvandi, who suffers from a cervical disc herniation, heart disease, and a history of cancer, is said to be in a profoundly concerning condition.
Her health has deteriorated to the point where she is no longer able to carry out basic personal and daily tasks. Over the past few weeks, she has lost at least five kilograms in weight.
Despite the urgent need for continuous medical supervision — particularly in light of her cancer history, which requires regular testing and specialist check-ups — prison authorities have so far failed to take meaningful action to address her medical needs.
In addition, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, which is overseeing her case, has reportedly refused to approve her request for medical furlough, further limiting her access to necessary healthcare.
Born in 1962, Azar Korvandi is married and has two children. She was previously imprisoned as a political detainee in the 1980s, during which she was pregnant at the time of her arrest and gave birth while enduring harsh prison conditions under interrogation.
Political prisoner Azar Korvandi was arrested in the summer of 2019 on charges of collaborating with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and promoting anti-regime propaganda after holding family counseling sessions in her private garden in Shahriar. She was released on bail then but later convicted in December 2021 by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.
Mrs. Korvandi received a five-year prison sentence for “assembly and collusion to act against national security” and an additional one-year sentence for “propaganda against the state.” As supplementary punishment, she was banned from leaving the country for two years and prohibited from membership and activity in social, political, and cultural groups for two years.
After the verdict was upheld by the Tehran Appeals Court, Azar Korvandi’s five-year prison sentence became enforceable under Article 134 of the regime’s Penal Code.
On July 30, 2023, she was summoned to the First Branch of the Enforcement Office of the Tehran District 33 Prosecutor’s Office, arrested, and transferred to Evin Prison to serve her sentence.
The denial of medical treatment to political prisoners remains a persistent human rights violation in Iran. The NCRI Women’s Committee has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the systematic medical neglect in Iranian prisons and has called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to dispatch investigative missions to inspect prison conditions and interview political prisoners—especially women.
