Exclusive: Yazd Prison Cauldron. Prisoners Speak Out

In the days following the suppression of the protests and at the height of the military confrontation between the US, Israel, and the Islamic Republic, what intensified the concerns of human rights activists was the situation of the protest detainees. Thousands of citizens in Iran were arrested by the government on charges such as participating in protests, activity on social networks, publishing videos related to the protests and bombings, or celebrating the death of Khamenei. They faced ambiguous situations and the fabrication of security cases against them.

Among them, the situation of female prisoners, particularly women detained in regional towns and cities, was even more complex. An informed source spoke to IranWire regarding the painful conditions in the women’s ward of Yazd Prison and some of the prisoners held there.

“We had no hope of ever seeing the color of freedom. Every night, missiles struck behind the prison, and dozens of us women, some of whom were very young, fragile, and terrified, would huddle together in a corner, hugging each other. We would squeeze our eyes shut and pray that we wouldn’t suffer.”

The woman cleared her tired, faint voice, but her silence lingered. A lump in her throat blocked her words. She is one of dozens of prisoners who, following the outbreak of the war, had been arrested under pretexts such as activity on social networks, supporting the war, or reacting to the killing of Khamenei. She has now been temporarily released from the women’s ward of Yazd Prison on bail.

She told IranWire: “There were several other women besides me; some are free on heavy bail, while others remain in prison in a state of limbo. During the nights of the war, we were so terrified that the girls would cry. The prison officials heartlessly told us, ‘Even if a missile hits and the prison wall collapses, the watchtower guards’ magazines are fully loaded, and they will target anyone left alive.’ Their entire mission was intimidation and terror.”

This woman, who was arrested due to her activities during the protest period, said: “I wanted to die rather than be imprisoned because I didn’t want my family to beg for my freedom from people whom I loathed with all my being and whom I had fought against in the streets.”

She noted that prison guards would insolently tell the women arrested during the January protests: “We killed, and we were right to kill. Didn’t Commander Radan warn you that if anything happens to you in the streets, the responsibility lies solely with you and your families?”

The humiliation of the prisoners detained during the protests is a trauma this woman recalls with deep heartache: “The isolation ward was a place where we couldn’t even step outside. One day, a cleric arrived and walked toward the prayer room for congregational prayers. Prisoners facing drug or murder charges followed behind him, hoping to receive good-behavior credits. As he walked past, he pointed at us and asked, ‘Are these the rioters?’ We replied, ‘We are protesters.’ All hell broke loose. We began chanting slogans, and the guards beat us, threw us into the isolation ward, and locked the door on us.”

One of the Girls Attempted Suicide Twice

“Seyedeh Zahra Hashemi Nasab,” “Shirin (Fatemeh) Tavangar,” “Masoomeh Abedi,” “Soheila (Negin) Barikzehi,” “Leila Barkhordari,” “Kowsar Roudbari,” “Yasaman Behmardi,” “Negin Dashtban,” “Shadab Karimi,” “Zahra Karimi,” “Kowsar Zare,” “Marziyeh Zare,” and “Zohreh Zare” are among the prisoners held in the women’s ward of Yazd Prison whose identities IranWire has managed to verify.

According to the informed source who spoke with IranWire, Negin Dashtban was from Yazd’s Zoroastrian minority and has currently been released on bail pending trial.

The informed source stated: “Shadab Karimi was also released on bail. Zahra Namaki was the mother of a two-year-old child. Zahra’s husband had also been arrested, and the couple had sent their child to Rafsanjan to live with the grandmother. Kowsar, Marziyeh, and Zohreh were sisters; all three had been arrested and remained in judicial limbo, but the most tragic of all was the situation of Soheila Barikzehi.”

The lump in her throat from recalling what happened to Soheila caused her to pause again. According to the source, Soheila Barikzehi’s family had moved to Yazd from a border area between Iran and Afghanistan in 1968.

“Soheila was only 16 years old. Aside from the fact that they had brought a child into the adult ward, they never stopped humiliating her. The innocent child had sent a video of air defense systems firing into a Rubika group. This video reached Persian-language networks and social media through one of the members of that group. They traced the source of the video back to Rubika and then came after Soheila.”

On her first night in prison, Soheila Barikzehi attempted to end her life using pills that had been given to some prisoners as sedatives.

“They had humiliated her severely. They told her, ‘You have disrupted the peace of the Iranian people; you have no right to say Iranians were not hospitable we will send you back to where you came from.’ She was in such a terrible mental state that she attempted suicide a second time. She tried to hang herself with her trousers, but fortunately, the girls in the ward noticed and saved her.”

Soheila was ultimately released on bail of one billion tomans pending trial and final judicial determination.

The Women’s Ward of Yazd Prison Is Hell

The informed source who spoke with IranWire described the women’s ward of Yazd Prison as “hell.” She stated that the separation of prisoners by offense category is not implemented in this ward and that prisoners charged with ordinary crimes are subjected to severe violence by prison guards. According to her, the women detained during the protests and the war are under intense psychological pressure, and their judicial limbo, coupled with the denial of medical care and basic rights, has severely worsened their mental and physical conditions.

She noted that some young women are facing security cases and heavy sentences solely for reposting content, liking posts, or expressing opinions online. They have no access to a lawyer and were unable to contact their families for a long time.

IranWire has learned that several female prisoners are suffering from severe anxiety, insomnia, panic attacks, and physical ailments resulting from continuous stress. In response to these issues, prison officials merely resort to administering strong sedatives, which, given the fragile condition of these inmates, can potentially be used to end their own lives.

She also stated that overcrowding, a lack of sanitary facilities, restricted access to medical services, and poor environmental conditions have made the prisoners’ situation extremely difficult and alarming.