Slain teen protestor’s father reportedly hospitalized after hunger strike in Iran prison

Reza Salmanzadeh, the father of slain teen protester Mehdi Salmanzadeh, has reportedly been transferred to a hospital after a hunger strike and losing consciousness in Ghezel Hesar prison, in Karaj, west of Tehran.

“The authorities have not said where they have taken him from the prison… It’s not clear which hospital he is in …The family hasn’t been informed where he is and haven’t been able to see him,” a source close to the family told Iran International on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

An Instagram account associated with Salmanzadeh reported Friday night that he had fallen into a "coma" due to a hunger strike and that "an ambulance was on its way to Ghezel Hesar prison." However, it is not clear if he lost consciousness for a while or he is in complete coma. Some sources called it a state of "semi-coma."

Salmanzadeh began his hunger strike last Tuesday, protesting the lack of medical care for his worsening health conditions, including prostate issues, according to the source. The hunger strike allegedly caused his blood pressure to drop dangerously low, making him unconscious.

“He experienced severe bleeding, and they didn’t take him to the hospital, so he went on a hunger strike,” the source added.

Intelligence agents are said to be pressuring the family, adding to their distress having already lost a young family member during Iran’s 2019 protests and the father being imprisoned in the aftermath of his advocacy for justice, according to the source.

Arrest and charges

After his arrest in May by intelligence agents at his family home, Salmanzadeh was subsequently held in Tehran’s Evin Prison, Ward 209.

A court in Tehran had previously sentenced Reza Salmanzadeh to three years and eight months in August 2022 on charges of “propaganda against the regime” and “membership in an unlawful group to act against national security,” according to US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA). This case was closed in February 2023 following a clemency directive.

However, while in prison, authorities brought new charges against Salmanzadeh in a joint case involving Evin prison inmates for which he is now serving a sentence of seven years and 74 lashes related to the case.

In September 2023, Salmanzadeh was transferred to Ghezel Hesar prison alongside 12 other prisoners. Following their transfer the prisoners were kept “in a cramped 12 square meter room in the high-security Unit 3 of Ghezel Hesar prison, in difficult conditions and without access to basic amenities such as hot water and telephones,” Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported.

Systemic denial of medical care in prison

At the end of July this year, HRANA warned that Salmanzadeh was deprived of proper medical care in Ghezel Hesar prison despite his poor physical condition.

He had previously gone on hunger strike as part of the weekly ‘No to Execution’ campaign protesting the Islamic Republic’s execution spree across Iran’s prisons.

At least 34 political prisoners, including Salmanzadeh, have been "systematically denied access to proper medical services" as a form of state retaliation for being outspoken critics of the surge in executions in Iran, according to a report by the US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in August.

CHRI noted that "vocal critics of Iran’s surging executions and unjust imprisonments have become particular targets for state abuse," reflecting a broader pattern of deliberate neglect and mistreatment.

Salmanzadeh’s son found hanged in family home after attending 2019 protests

Salmanzadeh’s 14-year-old son, Mehdi, was found dead in their family home in December 2019 after attending the protests marking the 40-day memorial for those killed in the November 2019 nationwide demonstrations, as documented by US-based rights group Abdorrahman Boroumand Center (ABC).

The November 2019 protests, often referred to as Bloody November, initially erupted due to a significant increase in fuel prices, quickly transforming into demands for government overthrow and opposition to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. At least 1,500 protestors were killed by security forces, according to figures reported by Reuters at the time.

Mehdi’s mother found his son's “naked body hanging from the wall closet”, according to the rights group United for Iran, citing a video interview with Reza Salmanzadeh in December 2019.

In the interview, he said that doctors and detectives suspected Mehdi was killed before being hanged, but Iran’s intelligence police dismissed the case as suicide, despite CCTV footage showing the suspected killer. The case was quickly closed without further investigation.

ABC’s Omid Memorial, which documents human rights abuses by the Islamic Republic, describes Mehdi's death as an "extrajudicial execution" and says his father's efforts to seek justice resulted in his arrest and conviction.

The case underscores a broader crisis within the Islamic Republic’s judicial and prison system and the authorities' systemic abuse of slain protestors' families as reported by Amnesty International in 2023 and the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Fact-Finding Mission on Iran's latest report this year.