“I wake up waiting for the worst call”: Brother says jailed Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi is dying

Time is reportedly running out for Narges Mohammadi.

The 54-year-old Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate was rushed from prison to a local hospital Friday after a “catastrophic deterioration in her health,” her family says — a move they fear may be too late.

Her brother Hamidreza, speaking to the BBC from Norway, said he fears she is dying. “I wake up waiting for the worst call I could get,” he told _Newshour_.

Mohammadi, jailed in December for criticising the regime, has a history of cardiac issues, pulmonary embolism, lung problems, and high blood pressure.

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Last month, inmates found her unconscious in Zanjan Prison after a suspected heart attack.

Her brother says prison officials refused hospital transfer for 140 days despite repeated pleas.

Now she’s suffering low blood pressure and had another heart attack, he said.

Doctors in Zanjan can’t handle her case after previous stenting and angiography.

“She should be transferred to a hospital in Tehran so that her own specialists, who have treated her previously, can take over her care,” he said.

The Nobel Committee agrees. Chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes told Reuters her life is at risk.

Hamidreza accused Tehran of deliberately blocking treatment: “I have no doubt that the regime has decided to just get rid of people like Narges and other activists.”

Iranian authorities have not responded.

He warned that war has shifted global focus: “It seems that oil is now more important than freedom,” referencing Strait of Hormuz tensions.

Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times, sentenced to 31 years and 154 lashes, per her foundation.

In 2021 she began a 13-year term for “propaganda against the state.”

Released briefly in December 2024 for medical reasons, she was re-arrested that month in Mashhad after a speech honouring a fellow activist. Her family says she was beaten during arrest, then hospitalised.

In February, she got another 7½ years for “gathering and collusion.” She was moved without warning to Zanjan prison and cut off from family.

Her foundation and the Nobel Committee are demanding immediate transfer to adequate care.

For now, Mohammadi remains in a provincial hospital her family says can’t save her.

[Rewritten BBC report]