Iraj Mesdaghi is an Iranian-Swedish writer, researcher, and human rights advocate known for his long-standing work on political history, legal accountability, and prison conditions in Iran. His research and publications focus on documenting political developments, state institutions, and human rights issues, making his work relevant to scholars, journalists, and audiences interested in Iranian affairs and international law.
Mesdaghi became politically active while studying in the United States as a member of the Confederation of Iranian Students. He later returned to Iran during the 1979 revolution, a transformative period in the country’s modern history. In 1981, he was arrested in connection with his political activities and spent over a decade in detention at several well-known Iranian prisons. During this period, he gained firsthand experience of Iran’s prison system, which later became a central subject of his research and writing.
After leaving Iran in 1994, Mesdaghi settled in Sweden, where he continued his work through academic research, documentation projects, and public discussion. His areas of focus include human rights law, labor rights, prison reform, and the preservation of historical records related to political imprisonment. He is the author of several widely cited books, including the multi-volume memoir Neither Life Nor Death, which documents daily life inside Iranian prisons, and Hell on Earth, an analytical study of institutional practices within Iran’s detention system.
Mesdaghi received international attention for his role in events that led to the 2019 arrest of Hamid Noury in Sweden, a case that was later tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction. The trial became one of the most significant legal proceedings in Sweden related to international crimes and highlighted the growing role of national courts in addressing historical human rights cases.
In addition to his writing, Mesdaghi has collaborated with legal experts and researchers as a member of the Committee for the Observation and Use of Iranian Justice Data, chaired by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi. The committee examined and analyzed judicial data covering political cases in Iran from 1978 to 2009, contributing to academic research and policy discussions on legal transparency and historical accountability.
Through his books, research initiatives, and public commentary, Iraj Mesdaghi is widely regarded as an important contributor to the study of Iran’s contemporary political history and international human rights discourse, with work that continues to inform legal scholars, media analysts, and global audiences.
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