Fatemeh Ziaii, a 68-year-old political prisoner was arrested for the seventh time.
On Wednesday morning, August 6, 2025, Iranian security forces raided the home of Fatemeh Ziaii Azad (Houri), a former political prisoner and supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), arresting her and confiscating all her communication devices. This marks the seventh time Fatemeh Ziaii has been arrested over the past four decades.
Fatemeh Ziaii, now 68 years old, is a survivor of Iran’s notorious political prison system of the 1980s. She has spent over 13 years in prisons and torture centers under the clerical regime. Ziaii suffers from advanced multiple sclerosis (MS), and her health is reported to be in a fragile and deteriorating condition.
Her previous arrest dates back to September 10, 2022, when, despite her critical health, she was imprisoned for over a year. She was eventually released on January 19, 2025, after the Legal Medicine Organization (Iran’s forensic authority) officially confirmed her “inability to endure prison conditions.” Her latest re-arrest comes in direct defiance of prior medical warnings that further incarceration could pose a severe threat to her life.
The NCRI Women’s Committee expresses grave concern over Ms. Ziaii’s condition and called on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, and all relevant international human rights bodies to take urgent action for her immediate and unconditional release.
