Iranian Activist in Critical Condition amid Hunger Strike in Evin Prison

Narges Mansouri, a 46-year-old Iranian labor activist, is in a critical condition on the twentieth day of her combined hunger and medication strike at Evin Prison in Tehran.

Medical reports have highlighted severe complications including kidney damage, neurological issues, and an elevated risk of cardiac arrest due to her ongoing strike.

A source close to Mansouri's family disclosed to Iran International that the prison's medical staff have described her condition as "dangerous".

The activist began her strike on April 23 to protest the neglect of her legal case and the financial demands made by the court which threatens to seize her mother's home unless a payment of 1.5 billion rials (about $2,500) is made. She is also demanding her own release.

On April 29, the situation became publicly known through the Instagram page of Narges Mohammadi, another imprisoned human rights activist at Evin, who highlighted the severity of Mansouri's condition and her ongoing strike.

Mansouri is renowned for her activism as part of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company. She was among 14 women who, in 2019, demanded the resignation of Ali Khamenei, leader of the Islamic Republic. The act led to her arrest, and she was sentenced to five years for "assembly and collusion against national security" and an additional year for "propaganda activities against the system."

Her defiance against the strictures of the Islamic Republic continued even after her arrest.

In recent decades, many political prisoners have suffered from various diseases and serious injuries due to their protest hunger strikes in prison, and some have also lost their lives.