Prosecutors in Iran have agreed to allow Narges Mohammadi, the jailed activist and Nobel laureate, to leave prison for 21 days to recover from surgery, her foundation said on Wednesday.

For weeks, Ms. Mohammadi’s lawyers have petitioned for her to be given the necessary recovery time and medical attention after an operation on her leg to remove a lesion that was suspected of being cancerous. The Narges Foundation is urging, based on doctors’ recommendations, that she be given at least three months outside prison, where they say overcrowding and unsanitary conditions are endangering her recovery.

“A 21-day suspension of Narges Mohammadi’s sentence is inadequate,” the foundation said in a statement. “After over a decade of imprisonment, Narges requires specialized medical care in a safe, sanitary environment — a basic human right.”

Ms. Mohammadi, 52, is serving a sentence in a Tehran prison after being convicted of “spreading anti-state propaganda” for her criticism of Iran’s government and its laws curtailing women’s rights. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023.

Her health has suffered during her incarceration, including multiple heart attacks in 2022, the foundation said. Ms. Mohammadi’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, who lives in France with the couple’s two children, said in October that the Iranian government had withheld medical treatment for her for months.

“She has a problem with her digestive system, and lumps were found in her breasts,” he told The New York Times in a telephone interview. “But she was taken to the hospital five months later than the time of her initial request.”

She had also been denied any visitors and phone calls, Mr. Rahmani added.

Mr. Rahmani, reached by phone on Wednesday, said that he and their twin children were elated by the news of Ms. Mohammadi’s release, but their demand was that she be freed for good. He said their children had spoken to their mother for the first time in nearly three years, and that it was a very emotional conversation.

“I spoke to her briefly; she is in great spirits but she needs to stay out of prison to receive adequate medical care,” Mr. Rahmani said. “We are happy, but 21 days is not enough; she must be released permanently.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/world/middleeast/iran-narges-mohammadi-prison-surgery.html