Mohammadreza Jalaii-Pour, in an interview, said that solitary confinement is “a pleasurable experience and an unparalleled opportunity for privacy, growth, and contemplation.” This view is shocking for anyone who has been detained and experienced solitary confinement, and it is both strange and thought-provoking for a reader who has read the accounts of political and non-political prisoners.

How can a reformist political activist who says he himself has been subjected to solitary confinement describe an experience that, for many detainees, has come with pressure, deprivation, and lasting effects, as “pleasurable,” and as an opportunity for “growth and contemplation”?

This question becomes even more serious when the speaker is a figure close to the ruling establishment, and when his remarks are about one of the darkest parts of the detention experience—where solitary confinement is not a choice, but an imposed condition for the detained person.

Read the continuation of this report on the Iran International website.