Hossein Sepehri Temporarily Released from Prison; Mohammad Hossein's Detention Extended, Fatemeh's Life Remains at Risk in Prison

Asghar Sepehri, Fatemeh's brother, wrote in a post on social media platform X that Hossein Sepehri was released on bail of 2 billion tomans after three months of detention on Monday, January 1. He added, "The detention order for my other brother Mohammad Hossein Sepehri has been extended for another month by Ali Soleimani Marshak, the investigator of Branch 903." The Sepehri brothers were arrested on October 6 while pursuing treatment for their sister Fatemeh Sepehri at Qaem Hospital in Mashhad. They have been charged with conspiracy and collusion to disrupt internal security. On January 7, Fatemeh Sepehri's mother and brother reported the deterioration of her health in prison and held Ali Khamenei responsible for her and her two imprisoned brothers' well-being. The mother of these three political prisoners stated in a message that the government's aim in returning her daughter to prison after open-heart surgery was to prevent her treatment, saying, "The leader of the Islamic Republic is responsible for any incident and trouble for my children in prison." Earlier, the Iran Human Rights Organization expressed concern over the lack of access to medical services for political prisoners and called for the immediate release of Fatemeh Sepehri for her medical treatment outside of prison. Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam, the director of this organization, described Ms. Sepehri's imprisonment due to her expression of opinion as illegal and stated that the deliberate deprivation of appropriate medical services constitutes torture that endangers her life. Khosrow Alikordi, Fatemeh Sepehri's lawyer, also emphasized in an interview with Voice of America on January 5 that the intense pressure on Fatemeh Sepehri is due to her being a veiled opposition figure, a Quran researcher, and the wife of a martyr who has publicly confronted the Islamic Republic and its leader despite these beliefs. Fatemeh Sepehri underwent open-heart surgery in October of this year and was returned to prison just nine days after the operation. Mohammad Hossein and Fatemeh Sepehri are two political activists from Mashhad and signatories of the so-called "14th Statement," which called on Ali Khamenei to resign to save Iran from the regime and to leave the choice of governance to the people.