Ryan Feith, the lawyer of jailed Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh, in an interview with PBS News, said that since his client had several underlying medical conditions, his physical condition has recently become much worse and he even has difficulty breathing.

Feith also pointed to worrying conditions in Evin prison, especially after Israel’s attack on the prison, including overcrowding, lack of food, and the return of illnesses such as tuberculosis that had previously been eradicated.

PBS published part of an audio message from Valizadeh in which he said: “My 10-year prison sentence, compared to the suffering of families who have been forced to open dozens or hundreds of body bags to find their loved ones, is trivial. If I had accepted the tempting offer from the intelligence organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to set a trap for my colleagues and bring them to Iran, I could have stayed away from prison and received substantial rewards. But I chose prison, and I will not beg anyone for my release.”