Iran protests prison torture alleged by former detainees and activists

As protests unfold throughout Iran and safety forces intensify their crackdown, former political prisoners warn that what’s seen on the streets represents only a fraction of the violence taking place behind jail partitions.

In interviews with Fox Information Digital, three former inmates described a system designed not solely to punish dissent, however to crush it by way of solitary confinement, abuse, medical neglect and the specter of execution. Their accounts span practically 20 years, from the 2009 rebellion to the Lady, Life, Freedom motion and the present wave of unrest, and level to what they describe as a constant and escalating sample of abuse.

Maryam Shariatmadari, one of many faces of the ‘Ladies of Revolution Road’ protests in opposition to Iran’s necessary hijab legal guidelines, was sentenced to a yr in jail in March 2018 for what authorities described as “encouraging corruption by eradicating her hijab.”

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A girl with a mock-up of a gunshot wound on her brow appears on throughout a rally in assist of nationwide protests in Iran, in Rome, Italy, January 13, 2026. (Francesco Fotia/Reuters)

Shariatmadari mentioned this week that the size of the present protests has pushed the regime past its potential to detain demonstrators.

“Based on the testimonies of eyewitnesses, the oppressive forces of the Islamic Republic are … delivering ‘final photographs’ to wounded protesters and killing them on the spot,” she mentioned. “That is unprecedented up to now 47 years and signifies that the variety of prisoners has develop into so massive that the Islamic Republic not has the capability to carry them and is killing them with out trial.”

She mentioned that whereas prisoners from earlier uprisings had been transferred to prisons or unofficial “protected homes”, authorities had expanded detention throughout the 2022 “Lady, Life, Freedom” protests to incorporate colleges, ambulances and meals transport automobiles.

“They used ambulances and meals transport automobiles to detain protesters, which I believe is unprecedented in human historical past,” Shariatmadari mentioned.

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Maryam Shariatmadari was detained by Iranian safety forces after eradicating her hijab in protest in opposition to necessary veil legal guidelines throughout the “Ladies of Revolution Road” demonstrations in Tehran. Shariatmadari was later sentenced to a yr in jail for what authorities described as “encouraging corruption by eradicating her hijab.” (Fox Information)

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She described systematic abuse in detention facilities.

“This contains assault, switch to prisons with out segregation based mostly on the kind of crime, and intentionally inciting different prisoners to harass and abuse us,” she mentioned.

Certainly one of her most traumatic experiences occurred throughout the interrogation.

“I used to be ordered to take off my garments and stay fully bare for a physique search whereas cameras had been current,” Shariatmadari mentioned. “I knew males had been me, and I may hear their voices.”

She additionally recalled being denied emergency medical care after an harm.

“Solely after about 24 hours was I taken to a hospital to endure surgical procedure,” she mentioned. “I consider this occurred because of media stress and public assist.”

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Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, on January 9, 2026. (UGC through AP)

Eight hours a day, blindfolded

Shariatmadari’s husband, Mehdi Ghadimi, a contract journalist who labored with reformist newspapers Etemad and Shargh, was arrested throughout protests in January 2023 and brought to an undisclosed location. He spent virtually his complete detention in solitary confinement.

“I used to be interrogated twice a day, morning and afternoon, for eight hours with my eyes blindfolded,” Ghadimi mentioned.

Within the final days of his detention, he was transferred to a shared cell, the place he encountered prisoners from throughout Iranian society.

“I met college students, staff, technical specialists and others arrested throughout the Lady, Life, Freedom motion,” he mentioned.

Based on Ghadimi, detainees accused of supporting the Pahlavi dynasty had been crushed extra severely.

“As a result of their slogans and symbols supported the Pahlavi dynasty, they had been crushed rather more usually than the others,” he mentioned.

Primarily based on his expertise, he warned that present detainees are prone to be handled much more harshly.

“I can solely think about that this time all detainees will face related harsh therapy,” Ghadimi mentioned, including that the pinnacle of Iran’s judiciary has publicly signaled a tough line.

Ghadimi, who fled the nation in 2024, additionally cited figures circulating amongst activists claiming to be nicely above the two,600 reported numbers, seemingly dwarfed by that determine. He mentioned the variety of detainees is probably going a lot larger than the reported 10,000.

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On this photograph obtained by The Related Press, demonstrators chant slogans throughout an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (UGC through AP) (UGC through AP)

“On the opposite facet of these bars is hell”

Shabnam Madadzadeh, who was imprisoned throughout the 2009 rebellion, mentioned watching the present protests has revived recollections of utmost brutality and elevated fears of mass executions.

“What instantly involves thoughts is the sheer brutality of the regime when it comes to torture and homicide,” Madadzadeh mentioned.

She mentioned detention facilities had been already overcrowded throughout the 2009 protests.

“There was no extra room for detainees. Even the solitary cells had been overflowing with folks,” she mentioned.

Madadzadeh recalled that interrogators accused virtually everybody arrested of ties to the Mujahedin-e Khalq, and described torture and abuse “to the purpose of homicide.”

One risk made to her throughout interrogation nonetheless haunts her.

“He mentioned to me, ‘If we’re overthrown, we’ll kill you all. We won’t go away anybody alive,'” she mentioned.

She warned that the present web outage has elevated the hazard to detainees.

“We actually do not know what degree of brutality is at the moment going down in prisons,” Madadzadeh mentioned, including that data reaching her signifies that the regime needs to hold out executions rapidly.

Citing Iran’s previous, she warned of the danger of mass killings much like the executions of political prisoners in 1988.

“At this time, at a time when the regime is getting ready to collapse, there’s a actual hazard that such a bloodbath may repeat itself,” she mentioned.

Madadzadeh mentioned younger detainees are prone to face pressured confessions, mock executions and threats of sexual violence.

“It doesn’t matter what I do to you, nobody will hear your voice,” an interrogator as soon as advised her, she recalled.

She additionally highlighted the struggling of households trying to find family members.

“Households transfer between detention facilities, prisons, morgues and cemeteries,” she mentioned. “This uncertainty in itself is the best type of torture.”

Because the protests proceed, all three former prisoners mentioned the skin world shouldn’t look away.

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Shabnam Madadzadeh, a former political prisoner held throughout the 2009 Iranian rebellion, later spoke publicly about torture, solitary confinement and threats of execution within the Islamic Republic’s prisons, warning that prisoners are in excessive and quick hazard throughout the present protests. (Fox Information)

“The very first thing I count on the free world to grasp is the true voice of the folks of Iran,” Shariatmadari mentioned. “The folks of Iran are united of their demand for regime change and wish to restore Iran to its former dignity, a dignity wherein human rights and human price had been revered.”

Ghadimi repeated that warning.

“If the regime exhibits such open violence on the streets, there isn’t any doubt that even worse atrocities are taking place behind jail partitions,” he mentioned. “I can solely think about that every one detainees will probably be handled in a equally brutal method this time.”

For Madadzadeh, the hazard is quick.

“The world should reply decisively to this atrocity,” she mentioned. “Each minute of delay prices lives.”

She known as for concrete worldwide motion.

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Protesters burn pictures of Iranian Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outdoors the Iranian embassy throughout a rally in assist of nationwide protests in Iran, in London, January 12, 2026. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

“Power the regime to permit unbiased visits to prisons and to the key detention facilities of the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence,” Madadzadeh mentioned. “Lives depend upon it.”

Collectively, their testimonies paint a grim image of Iran’s prisons because the hidden frontlines of repression and a warning that what stays unseen could also be even deadlier than what’s already seen on the streets.