Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Iran Jails Ailing Female Dissident Who Signed 2019 Letter Asking Khamenei to Quit, Husband Says Michael Lipin WASHINGTON - Iran has imprisoned an ailing female dissident who signed a 2019 letter calling on its Islamist ruler to quit, rejecting her pleas to delay the start of an effective 27-month prison term until she is treated for severe pain, according to her husband. Speaking to VOA Persian from Iran on Tuesday, Abbas Vahedian Shahroudi, the husband of Shahla Jahanbin, said she had gone to Tehran's Evin prison on November 14 in response to her latest summons, and had hoped to be granted a further delay in starting her prison term for medical reasons. Jahanbin previously told VOA that she received a summons to start her sentence in May and persuaded prison officials to postpone the incarceration by several months so she could undergo needed back surgery and have time to recover. She said, though, that she could not schedule the surgery in the following months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting her at risk of being arrested and jailed at any time unless she received another delay. In his VOA interview, Vahedian said Iranian authorities who met his wife at her November 14 arrival at Evin told her that she would have to begin serving her prison term immediately because Iran's top military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, objected to further delays in her incarceration. دÙاÛÙÛ Ù¾ÛØ´ بعد از Ù¾Ùج رÙز Ø¨Û Ø®Ø¨Ø±Û ÙÙسر عزÛز٠از [1]#اÙÛ٠تÙاس گرÙت! ÙÙÚÙا٠از درد شدÛد کت٠٠کÙرش رÙج ÙÛبرد! Ú¯Ùا٠[2]#Ø´ÙÙاجÙاÙبÛÙ Ù Ùزارا٠زÙداÙÛ Ø³ÛØ§Ø³Û Ù' ÙدÙÛ Ù Ø¹ÙÛØ¯ØªÛ ÚÛØ³ØªØ Ø§Ø² ÙشاÙÙ ÙØ§Û Ø¢Ø´Ú©Ø§Ø± ØÚ©ÙÙتÙØ§Û Ø§Ø³ØªØ¨Ø¯Ø§Ø¯Û Ø¹Ùض Ø´Ø¯Ù Ø¬Ø§Û ÙÛÙ٠دÙستا٠با اراذ٠٠غارتگرا٠Ùابست٠ب٠رÚÛ٠در زÙداÙÙاست [3]pic.twitter.com/cpvfnalJeG -- ð«abbas vahedian-shð« (@ShVahedian) [4]November 18, 2020 Vahedian later posted a Wednesday tweet saying he had spoken to Jahanbin by phone minutes earlier in their first contact since her Saturday arrest. He said his wife told him that she still was suffering from severe pain in her shoulder and back. VOA could not independently verify the circumstances of Jahanbin's detention because it is barred from reporting from Iran. Jahanbin was among 14 Iranian women who signed the August 2019 open letter demanding the resignation of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Authorities initially arrested her in connection with the letter later that month before releasing her on bail in November 2019. The 14 signatories of the letter were charged by Iranian authorities with spreading anti-government propaganda and "gathering and conspiring against national security." Jahanbin received a final prison sentence of 30 months for her role in the letter, but her effective term was reduced to 27 months to account for the time that she already served in jail last year. Jahanbin was defiant in a VOA interview last month, saying she had no regrets about the letter despite the prospect of imminent imprisonment that could exacerbate her osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease affecting both her neck and shoulders. She also faced a risk of coronavirus exposure in an Iranian prison system criticized by international rights activists as unsanitary and overcrowded. References 1. https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%86?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 2. https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%B4%D9%87%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A8%DB%8C%D9%86?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw 3. https://t.co/cpvfnalJeG 4. https://twitter.com/ShVahedian/status/1329057096042749953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw .