Fatemeh Sepehri in critical condition as hunger and medication strike enters eighth day

Hengaw – Tuesday, 23 June 2026

Fatemeh Sepehri, a 62-year-old political prisoner held in the women’s ward of Mashhad Central Prison (Vakilabad), is in critical condition as her protest hunger and medication strike enters its eighth day.

According to information received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Sepehri began a simultaneous hunger and medication strike on 15 June 2026 in protest against inhumane prison conditions, inadequate medical care, and the systematic denial of access to life-sustaining medication.

Sources familiar with her situation told Hengaw that Sepehri, who previously underwent open-heart surgery, is suffering from severe heart failure, debilitating pain in her arms and shoulders, painful masses in her chest, and chronic gastrointestinal complications. The prison administration and security authorities have denied her access to essential daily medication and refused to transfer her to specialized medical facilities outside the prison. These measures have pushed her toward the strike despite the serious risks to her health.

Fatemeh Sepehri, a signatory of the “Statement of 14” calling for the resignation of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, was arrested during the Women, Life, Freedom (Jin, Jiyan, Azadi) movement in October 2022. Sepehri, who is also the widow of a soldier killed in the Iran-Iraq War, has been sentenced by the Iranian judiciary to a combined total of more than 18 years in prison for her public criticism of the ruling establishment. She has remained imprisoned in Vakilabad Prison since her arrest and has been denied furlough throughout her detention.