With joy, we share the announcement of the temporary release on furlough of political prisoner and women’s rights activist Nahid Taghavi, a German-Iranian dual citizen, posted by her daughter Mariam Claren:

“I am pleased to announce that my mother Nahid Taghavi has been temporarily released on furlough.

“Unfortunately, Nahid has to wear an electronic anklet during the furlough. Nahid’s freedom of movement is restricted to 1000 meters around her apartment in Tehran. This makes her release more comparable to house arrest. However, we hope that this furlough is an important first step towards her unconditional release.

“We would like to thank everyone who works tirelessly for Nahid and the release of all political prisoners.”

Nahid Taghavi was arrested in a raid on her Tehran apartment in October 2020 during a sweep of arrests of political dissidents by the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). After enduring more than seven months of solitary confinement and over 1,000 hours of interrogation, she was charged in a group trial in August 2021 in a kangaroo court, where her lawyer barely had a chance to review their multiple cases.

Her codefendants included British-Iranian dual citizen Mehran Raouf, Somayeh Kargar, and several others. Both Nahid and Mehran were sentenced to over 10 years. They should have been eligible for release after serving one-third of their sentences or in the “amnesty” after prisons overflowed with protesters from the Woman-Life-Freedom uprising. Of the multiple codefendants in this trial, only Mehran remains in prison.

Somayeh Kargar greeted the news with this joyful and poetic post, translated by IEC volunteers:

Nahid has arrived! This 70-year-old communist cedar* has arrived with head held high. Nahid is the ambassador of emancipation. Neither walls nor ankle monitors are strong enough to keep emancipation in chains. My dear Nahid, welcome! Our battle continues!

[*Translator’s note: The tall, majestic cedar tree signifies strength and endurance in tumultuous times].

In July 2022, Nahid was granted a medical furlough to deal with severe and dangerous spinal problems. However, before her treatment was completed, her furlough was abruptly cancelled, and she was ordered back to Evin Prison in November 2022. Since then, she has suffered severe and chronic pain, for which the prison authorities refused her the treatment the doctors deemed needed. This furlough is medically necessary to enable her to get this urgent treatment, but her release should be permanent and unconditional, as she should never have been arrested or charged to begin with.

An important part of why Nahid and all political prisoners in Iran must be urgently freed is that they are needed out in society and on the streets to provide direction on how to move forward the struggle of the people for justice and liberation. For example, the uplifting effect Nahid has on those around her stands out in this tribute to her posted by an ex-political prisoner and women’s ward mate, Hasti Amiri in 2022, translated by IEC volunteers:

You were like a teacher to me, being involved in years of struggle. You had stood up against dictatorship for years. You had fought to achieve your goals. You were not like those whose beliefs wavered with a gust of the wind in media. You were the one who had fought and is still fighting for equality, for liberation and for breaking up our chains. Every day you were more resolute than before. Your presence in prison elevated so much the quality of our days. We were singing Bella Ciao in Persian. Now when I close my eyes and reminisce about the time you were singing Bella Ciao in Italian in open air prison yard, my heart wants to fly to you.

For our part, the IEC will continue in this political struggle with our understanding that (from our Emergency Appeal):

The governments of the U.S. and Iran act from their national interests. And, in this instance, we the people of the U.S. and Iran, along with the people of the world, have OUR shared interests, as part of getting to a better world: to unite to defend the political prisoners of Iran. In the U.S., we have a special responsibility to unite very broadly against this vile repression by the IRI, and to actively oppose any war moves by the U.S. government that would bring even more unbearable suffering to the people of Iran.

We demand of the Islamic Republic of Iran: FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW!

We say to the U.S government: NO THREATS OR WAR MOVES AGAINST IRAN, LIFT U.S. SANCTIONS!

JOIN US!