Iranian Prisoners’ Lives at Risk from Poor Health and Living Conditions

Iranian Prisoners’ Lives at Risk from Poor Health and Living Conditions

Written by

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

 

Iran: Lack of Basic Health and Living Amenities Endangers Lives of Prisoners in Various Prisons

Protests by families and residents of Khorramabad to prevent the execution of a prisoner

The deterioration of health conditions in various prisons across Iran and the lack of minimum living amenities have put the health and lives of many prisoners at serious risk.

In Evin Prison, in recent days, a viral illness has spread across several sections of Ward 7, infecting a large number of prisoners. Due to overcrowding, enclosed spaces, and the lack of minimal sanitary facilities, the virus has spread rapidly. Those infected suffer from symptoms such as severe sore throat, lethargy, and extreme weakness. Last year, the henchmen confiscated and plundered the cooling equipment in this ward, and currently, despite the unbearable heat, they prevent the entry of any cooling appliances. To obtain the most basic facilities, prisoners are forced to pay several times the actual price to mafia gangs associated with the prison guards.

In Ward 2 of Karaj Central Prison, 300 to 400 prisoners, mostly detainees of the January uprising, are kept in highly congested and unsanitary conditions. Up to 30 prisoners are crammed into rooms with nine beds, forcing many to sleep on the floor. After forcibly transferring prisoners from Ward 15 to this ward, the henchmen plundered all the cooling equipment that had been purchased at the prisoners’ own expense. Hundreds of prisoners are allowed to use the showers for only two hours a week. The distribution of synthetic drugs by regime agents in the ward, coupled with severely restricted phone calls, has pushed pressure on the prisoners to a boiling point, leading to cases of neurological disorders and suicide.

In Malayer Prison, most prisoners have contracted an illness similar to COVID-19. Despite a week passing since the general outbreak and the critical condition of some patients, there is no sign of doctors or medical care. Malnutrition resulting from food shortages and extremely low food quality, combined with high population density, has rendered the health status of the prisoners critical.

In Gonbad-e Kavus Prison, the overflowing of sewage in the general ward and the penetration of pollution into the prisoners’ living environment have placed their health at serious risk, and the henchmen have taken no action to address the situation.

In another development, on Thursday, August 20, 2026, following the transfer of 25-year-old prisoner Mohammad Reza Rezaei to solitary confinement for the execution of his inhumane death sentence, his family, relatives, and a group of Khorramabad residents staged a protest in front of Khorramabad Central Prison and the regime’s judiciary in Lorestan. On Wednesday, August 19, the henchmen quietly transferred Mohammad Reza to solitary confinement in Khorramabad Central Prison for execution. Protesters emphasized that the regime seeks to create an atmosphere of fear and terror in society by executing youths.

The Iranian Resistance once again calls on the United Nations and relevant international bodies to decisively condemn the inhumane conditions in the Iranian regime’s prisons, to take immediate action to stop the mullahs’ machine of torture and execution, and demands a visit by an international fact-finding mission to these prisons to meet with the detainees.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)

21 August 2026