Hunger Strike of Mehrdad Bakhtiari and Siamak Nasiri Following Transfer to Solitary Confinement

News sources reported that Mehrdad Bakhtiari and Siamak Nasiri, two political prisoners, have gone on hunger strike following their transfer to solitary confinement by the authorities of Karaj Central Prison. Saba Bakhtiari, Mehrdad's sister, announced on the social media platform X on Tuesday, December 25, that Mehrdad Bakhtiari was transferred to solitary confinement on Saturday, December 23, along with another political prisoner named Siamak Nasiri, and both have gone on hunger strike. Ms. Bakhtiari wrote: "My brother Mehrdad Bakhtiari was transferred to solitary confinement in support of and to prevent the transfer of his cellmate, the monarchist prisoner Siamak Nasiri, to solitary confinement, and both went on hunger strike in protest against the prison authorities' decision." Saba Bakhtiari also stated that "we still have no news about the reason for this transfer to solitary confinement." Meanwhile, some sources have reported that the transfer of Mehrdad Bakhtiari and Siamak Nasiri to solitary confinement occurred following the holding of a "national celebration" on the occasion of Yalda Night by political prisoners. Additionally, according to a report from a human rights activist group in Iran citing an informed source, Siamak Nasiri "is suffering from kidney disease, and keeping him in solitary confinement while on hunger strike" has raised concerns among his relatives. Mehrdad Bakhtiari was arrested on August 8 of this year following an attack by a large number of armed agents of the Islamic Republic on his home, using violence and "beating." He is the uncle of Pouya Bakhtiari, a young protester who was killed by direct gunfire from Islamic Republic agents during the nationwide protests of November 2019. Following the family's and relatives' quest for justice for Pouya Bakhtiari, the authorities of the Islamic Republic have exerted significant pressure on them in recent years, and several of them, including his uncle, Aryan Shirpish, have been arrested. Currently, at least Pouya's mother, Nahid Shirpish, his father, Monouchehr Bakhtiari, and his uncle, Mehrdad Bakhtiari, are in the prisons of the Islamic Republic.