Iranian authorities have arrested Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the country’s most prominent human rights advocates, according to her family and the Narges Foundation.
The Paris-based foundation said Mohammadi was forcibly taken into custody on Friday while attending a memorial service in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. The ceremony was being held for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer and civil rights supporter who was recently found dead in his office. Mohammadi’s brother, Mehdi, confirmed the arrest, describing it as a violent detention carried out by security and police forces.
The arrest has sparked international condemnation, with rights organizations warning that Iran is intensifying its crackdown on dissent.
Nobel Committee Condemns ‘Brutal Arrest’
The Norwegian Nobel Committee swiftly denounced the detention, calling it “brutal” and demanding Mohammadi’s immediate and unconditional release.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee calls on the Iranian authorities to clarify Narges Mohammadi’s whereabouts without delay, ensure her safety, and release her immediately,” the committee said in a statement. It expressed solidarity with Mohammadi and others in Iran who peacefully advocate for human rights, freedom of expression, and the rule of law.
Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her decades-long struggle against oppression, particularly her advocacy for women’s rights and opposition to Iran’s use of capital punishment.
A Life Marked by Prison and Resistance
Over the past two decades, Mohammadi has spent much of her life imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison, a facility notorious for holding political dissidents. She has received multiple convictions amounting to 36 years in prison, according to her foundation, on charges including acting against national security and spreading propaganda against the state.
In December 2024, Iranian authorities temporarily suspended her sentence for three weeks so she could recover from surgery to remove part of a bone in her lower leg. Doctors had discovered a lesion suspected of being cancerous. Although she was expected to return to prison after the medical leave, she remained on furlough until her re-arrest this week.
Despite constant pressure, Mohammadi continued speaking out publicly during her temporary release, drawing renewed attention to Iran’s human rights record.
Defiance in the Face of Repression
Just days before her arrest, Mohammadi authored an essay for Time magazine, arguing that true peace is impossible in Iran under pervasive state control.
“Iranians live under constant surveillance, censorship, arbitrary detention, and the ever-present threat of violence,” she wrote, urging global support for Iran’s civil society, independent journalism, women’s rights activists, and human rights defenders.
In a December 2024 interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Mohammadi was unwavering. “Whether I am inside Evin prison or outside, my objective is unchanged,” she said. “Until democracy is achieved, we will not stop.”
Reports of Abuse and Wider Arrests
During her years behind bars, Mohammadi has repeatedly spoken about mistreatment and abuse of detained women, including prolonged solitary confinement and sexual violence. In letters and interviews, she described assaults allegedly carried out by security forces, prison officials, and medical staff. Iranian authorities have consistently denied these claims, dismissing them as false.
The Narges Foundation said several other activists were also arrested during the Mashhad memorial ceremony, though details remain limited. The foundation has called for the immediate release of all individuals detained while paying respects to the late lawyer.
Family Sacrifice and Global Solidarity
Mohammadi is the mother of teenage twins, Kiana and Ali Rahmani, who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf in Oslo. Her husband, Taghi Rahmani—himself a former political prisoner—has long described her as possessing “limitless energy” in the pursuit of freedom.
Speaking previously to CNN, her son Ali said he was proud of his mother despite the personal cost. “I have accepted this life,” he said. “Any suffering I endure does not matter.”
