Thousands of Iranians Urge Sadegh Larijani to Address Narges Mohammadi's Situation

Following the ongoing hunger strike of Narges Mohammadi, a human rights activist imprisoned in protest against the prohibition of phone contact with her children, thousands of Iranian citizens have written a letter to Sadegh Larijani, the head of Iran's judiciary, urging him to address her situation "before it is too late." According to "HRANA," the news agency of human rights activists in Iran, this letter has been signed by 5,600 people so far. In part of the letter addressed to the head of the judiciary, it states: "This mother has been on hunger strike for 13 days despite her illness and urgent need for medication, solely to hear the voice of her beloved children. Therefore, the belief that we are human beings and still have some compassion within us has compelled us to request that you, as the highest judicial authority in the country, intervene and remedy the situation before it escalates." The letter further adds: "The continuation of this situation could lead to irreparable physical and psychological damage or the loss of a human life, especially due to the deprivation of her most basic rights as a mother, as well as those of her children." Narges Mohammadi, the vice president of the Human Rights Defenders Center, has been on hunger strike since July 7 in protest against the Iranian judicial and security authorities' prohibition of phone contact with her young children. In this context, on Thursday, Ayatollah Yousef Sanei, a Shia cleric in Qom, expressed regret over the civil activist's situation in prison during a phone conversation with Narges Mohammadi's family, stating that a mother's contact with her child is a necessary, legal, and religious right, and that preventing this right is unjustifiable except as oppression against the mother. According to Khabar Online, Ayatollah Sanei deemed the treatment of Narges Mohammadi unacceptable and stated that her demands should be met and that she does not belong in prison. In recent days, several political and social figures have urged Narges Mohammadi to end her hunger strike. In this regard, the daughters of Zahra Rahnavard and Mir Hossein Mousavi expressed concern for the imprisoned human rights activist's situation in a message to her, asking her to end her hunger strike. Narges Mohammadi had stated in a letter prior to her hunger strike that over the past year, she had only been able to hear her children's voices once, and throughout this time, Iranian judicial authorities had prevented her from communicating with her two children. Following her arrest, her young children went to their father, Taghi Rahmani, in France. Mr. Rahmani, who himself was a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic for years, fled to Europe following the events of 2009 and the heavy prison sentences issued for political activists critical of the Iranian government.