Iranian Political Prisoner Accused of Supporting Israel

Prominent Iranian political prisoner Fatemeh Sepehri has been accused of "supporting Israel" for condemning the Hamas attack on Israel in October last year.

Asghar Sepehri, Fatemeh's brother, uploaded a video explaining the situation on his X account. 

In the video description, he wrote that Fatemeh condemned the Hamas attack in a video just two weeks after undergoing open-heart surgery. 

He further stated that during a virtual court session on Saturday, April 7, she was accused of supporting Israel for her condemnation.

Despite the pressure, Asghar Sepehri said, "My sister has reiterated her condemnation of the Hamas attack during a conversation with our family."

In a video clip released on October 16, 2023, from Ghaem Hospital in the northeastern city of Mashhad, Sepehri condemned the Hamas attack on Israel and criticized the "agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran" for supporting the Palestinian armed group. 

"I emphatically declare that the Iranian nation stands in solidarity with the people of Israel," she said. "I hope [Hamas's] 'Al-Aqsa Storm' operation closes the Islamic Republic's case."

Sepehri emphasized that the people of Iran do not want war or the killing of innocent people and pointed out that peace has been elusive in the Middle East since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

The outspoken pro-democracy advocate was arrested in Mashhad on September 12, 2022, and was sentenced in February this year to a total of 18 years in prison on charges including "propaganda against the regime," "cooperating with hostile countries," and "insulting" Khamenei and his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini.

She is one of the 14 signatories of a 2019 statement calling for Khamenei's resignation, the abolition of the Islamic Republic, and the establishment of a secular government.