Prisons across the Kurdish region of Iran have been subjected to increased security measures, including the deployment of additional guards and restrictions placed on the movement of prisoners, according to information provided to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
Additionally, sick prisoners in need of urgent medical attention have been continually refused transfer to facilities and have yet to be seen by professionals, the network claimed.
Sajjad Molaei, an Azerbaijani Turkic political prisoner held in the political prisoners’ ward of Orumiyeh Central Prison, was reportedly denied medical attention for hours after suffering a heart attack during his detention, an informed source told KHRN.
“On the evening of 28 February 2026, following airstrikes by Israeli and US fighter jets on the city and out of concern for the situation of his family, Sajjad Molaei suffered a heart attack and lost consciousness. After several hours, he was transferred to Seyyed al-Shohada Hospital in Orumiyeh, but while his left arm was numb, he was returned to prison without receiving proper medical treatment and has since been held in poor conditions in prison,” the source claimed.
Molaei, who shares the same name as a prisoner executed last year, was sentenced in August for posts made on his social media after the 12 Day War, to 16 months on the charge of “insulting the Supreme Leader” and two years and one day in prison on charges of “media activity aimed at strengthening and consolidating the Zionist regime” and “propaganda against the state.”
Chaos in Iranian prisons
In an action seen as a response to the US and Israeli strikes on the regime, prison authorities reportedly allowed hundreds of political prisoners out on bail in Urmia, Salmas, Mahabad, Naqadeh, Bukan, Sanandaj, Marivan, and Kamyaran, though the fates of many protesters arrested during the January unrest remain unknown.
There are concerns that the political prisoners, many of whom were youth arrested while demonstrating against the regime and or the country’s economic crisis, were caught up in US and Israeli attacks on the Intelligence Ministry and IRGC buildings, KHRN Director Rebin Rahmani explained.
The Center of Human Rights in Iran similarly expressed on Monday that, given Tehran’s failure to evacuate and transfer prisoners from Evin despite the known risks, there were ongoing concerns for the safety and well-being of prisoners in the new round of conflict. Amnesty International reported on similar concerns earlier this week after explosions were heard near prisons and other facilities where those arrested during the 12 Day war are being held.
On Tuesday afternoon, following the strike on one of the Basij centers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, prisoners in the nearby Mahabad Prison began protesting their conditions, KHRN was informed. Blankets were reportedly set on fire, and regime authorities deployed tear gas within the prison to silence the unrest, before relocating 18 Kurdish prisoners to Miandoab Prison.
“On Tuesday, 3 March 2026, following the bombing of a military centre near Mahabad Prison, prisoners protested after the ward doors had been locked on them. The protest was met with the presence of special forces who fired tear gas. Following the protest, around 100 prisoners convicted of ordinary crimes and several political prisoners serving short sentences were granted 15 days’ leave or temporarily released on bail or business licence guarantees”, an informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network.
After the protests in Mahabad, regime authorities have allegedly begun threatening political prisoners in Tehran’s Evin Prison, warning that they have been authorized to open fire at signs of dissent.