Belgium – VRT News, Mar. 04, 2026
Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali, who also gave guest lectures at the VUB, has briefly been in contact with his wife, Vida Mehrannia. From the phone call, it appears that prisoners in Iran’s Evin prison have been left without food following the American-Israeli attacks, Mehrannia says. “The situation is very bad and we are afraid of what is still to come,” Djalali said through his wife.
Since the airstrikes on Iran, the question has arisen whether Professor Djalali is still alive. It had been quite some time since his wife, Vida Mehrannia, had last been in contact with him. Until yesterday, when she was able to speak to him on the phone for two minutes.
Djalali is currently being held in the medical ward of the notorious prison in the Iranian capital, Tehran. He told his wife that the guards fled, locked the doors from the inside, and left. The prisoners reportedly only have some bread to eat.
Fear among detainees
“The situation is very bad and we are afraid of what is still to come,” Djalali said through his wife. He also said that detainees have felt “desperate” and “extremely stressed” since the start of the attacks near the prison.
“We are very concerned about his condition,” Van Berlaer said. “He has been imprisoned for almost 10 years, in the worst possible conditions. He is therefore very weak.”
“Although he survived three hunger strikes and a thirst strike at the beginning, we are very afraid that without food and drink he will weaken further. Even if he were able to escape, we fear he would not succeed because he is so weakened.”
