Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi’s prison call with Hollywood star-turned-activist Angelina Jolie has elicited criticism from some Iranian activists.

In spite of the horrific conditions of Iran's prisons, Fars news agency, a mouthpiece of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and hardliners, ran a report saying that Mohammadi’s interview with Jolie has “busted the lies about the poor conditions of political prisoners."

The mere fact that the phone conversation took place has raised questions as to how Mohammadi is allowed what alleged special privileges when so many suffer abhorrent conditions including torture such as amputation and stoning, as documented by Amnesty International, and denial of legal counsel inside Iran's jails. Human Rights Watch has also documented the widespread abuses and primitive conditions endured in Iran's jails.

According to the accounts of former prisoners, Mohammadi – and other prisoners – can make a phone call from the prison’s landline to one of the people allowed by prison authorities. Their confidants then can make a phone call to whomever they want by another device. With both phones on speakers, they can then talk to each other. It was apparently the case with the interview with Angelina Jolie, who according to her article published by Time last week talked to Mohammadi for a brief time before the call was disconnected, forcing her to finish the interview with written questions.

However, critics argue that if such a method is possible, how come Mohammadi did not apply it to talk to her children. Another point raised by the critics is how Mohammadi’s actions do not lead to any consequences similar to other prisoners. Earlier in the month, Mahvash Sabet, a former member of the Baha’i community’s leadership group wrote a letter from Tehran’s Evin Prison, bemoaning the persecution of the minority groups by the Islamic Republic. We learned earlier this week that Sabet has since been banned from contacting her family because of her letter under the orders of the Intelligence Ministry.