Fatemeh Sepehri's Need for Open-Heart Surgery; 'I Won't Stop Until I Uproot the Weeds of 57'

Fatemeh Sepehri's brother states that angiography results show that two of her three main heart arteries are 95% blocked, making open-heart surgery necessary. Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, a teacher and political activist opposed to the Islamic Republic, posted a photo of Fatemeh's angiography report from the hospital on Thursday, October 6, indicating that two of her three main heart arteries are over 95% blocked and she needs immediate surgery. He also mentioned that after a successful surgery, he was able to briefly meet Fatemeh and conveyed a message from this political prisoner to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Mohammad Hossein Sepehri said, 'My sister had a message and asked me to tell Ali Khamenei that the weed that grew in this pure land in 57, for which we gave everything, even blood, I will not stop until I uproot it! Death to Khamenei, curse be upon Khomeini!' Fatemeh Sepehri, a political prisoner held in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad, was transferred to the emergency department of Qaem Hospital in Razavi Khorasan after experiencing 'heart problems' on Wednesday. This political prisoner has undergone three surgeries in the past two years, with the third being arranged by the prison. However, despite the attending physician emphasizing that 'the treatment must be completed outside the prison environment, as the stress of prison completely halts the treatment process,' Mohammad Hossein Sepehri stated, 'Unfortunately, the authorities not only opposed this but also applied various forms of torture.' He explained that in recent months, the prison authorities did not follow the doctor's orders for therapeutic work, physiotherapy, or even a simple MRI, and their last method of pressure was to completely close the windows in her room, which only allowed distinguishing day from night. According to him, 'The pressures they applied caused Fatemeh Sepehri to develop heart disease,' and 'last week, the prison doctor recommended that she undergo an echocardiogram and a stress test, which unfortunately they did not perform in these ten days.' Mohammad Hossein Sepehri added that due to judicial authorities preventing this political prisoner from receiving treatment, 'last night at midnight, my sister's heart failed, and she was taken to the prison infirmary amid the screams of her cellmates, and despite the objections of intelligence agents and the supervising judge, she was kept there until the situation became completely urgent, and now she has been transferred to the emergency department of Qaem Hospital.' Addressing the Supreme Leader, Mohammad Hossein Sepehri said, 'Ali Khamenei! You who constantly recite elegies about the prisons of Harun, about the prisons of Hajjaj [bin Yusuf], about your innocent Musa ibn Ja'far, do you know what is happening in your own prisons? Yes, you know! Curse be upon Khamenei!' At the end of this video message, Fatemeh Sepehri's family chanted 'Death to Khamenei, curse be upon Khomeini.' Fatemeh and Mohammad Hossein Sepehri, two political activists opposed to the government, are both signatories of the so-called '14 Statement' for the transition from the Islamic Republic and the resignation of its leader, Ali Khamenei. Fatemeh Sepehri, who was arrested shortly after the killing of Mahsa Amini and the onset of nationwide protests in Iran, has been in prison for over a year. Before her arrest, she told Voice of America, 'The people do not want the Islamic Republic, and this time they will finish the job.' Mohammad Hossein Sepehri has previously warned about his sister's health in prison and discussed his change of opinion after his prison experience in an interview with Voice of America. Fatemeh Sepehri, the wife of one of the victims of the Iran-Iraq war, had previously emphasized that if Ali Khamenei exploits the 'martyrs,' 'I will be ashamed of him.' The pressures on this political prisoner in Vakilabad prison in Mashhad have increased following these statements. The neglect in addressing Fatemeh Sepehri's medical needs comes at a time when Faramarz Javidzad, a dual-national Jewish prisoner, died due to deprivation of medical rights in Evin prison.