Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani indicated on Thursday that "the United States, Britain, and Germany express 'insincere concern' regarding Iranian women and girls." Kanaani stated: "Instead of intervening with biased remarks and expressing insincere concern about Iranian women and girls, you should be worried about healthcare workers and patients in the United States, Germany, and Britain and address their situation."
On her part, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote in a post on platform "X": "Once again a young woman in Iran fights for her life. Just because she showed her hair in the subway. This is unbearable. The parents of Armita Garavand should not be in front of cameras, but they should have the right to be by their daughter's side."
The semi-official Tasnim news agency denied the claims made by the Kurdish Iranian rights organization Hengaw that "security forces have arrested Shahin Ahmadi, the mother of Armita Garavand." Tasnim quoted sources in the Islamic Republic stating that "authorities did not arrest the girl's mother."
In a statement to Reuters on Wednesday, prominent human rights activists reported that "Iranian girl Armita Garavand is in a coma and her condition is critical in the hospital," after they said she encountered law enforcement officers in the Tehran subway for violating the country’s hijab law. According to reports, 16-year-old Armita Garavand was assaulted by the morality police in the Tehran subway for violating the hijab rules imposed by the Iranian regime. She is currently in a coma at Fajr Hospital under strict security measures. Local reports stated that security forces surrounded the hospital.
The case of 16-year-old Garavand gained significant sensitivity amid concerns that she may meet the fate of Mahsa Amini (22), whose death last year while in a coma under moral police custody sparked nationwide protests that lasted for months. While authorities deny the claims made by human rights groups that Garavand fell into a coma on Sunday following an encounter with Islamic dress code enforcement officers, the Kurdish Iranian rights organization Hengaw published a photo of the girl, unconscious in a hospital in Tehran where she was transferred after the incident.
According to information obtained by Iran International, Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old student from Kermanshah, was assaulted in the Tehran subway. The information added that she has been in Fajr Hospital in Tehran for two days under security measures due to fears of a repeat of Mahsa Amini's story.
Surveillance footage released by the Islamic Republic News Agency showed Garavand without the mandatory hijab alongside two girls as they walked toward the train on a subway platform. As they entered the first train car, one of the girls was seen immediately retreating and falling to the ground before passengers pulled another unconscious girl from the car.
