Iran arrests Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi, supporters say
Iranian authorities arrested Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammedi on Friday, her foundation said, citing her brother.
The Paris-based foundation said Mohammedi was “violently detained” by security and police forces during a memorial service for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was recently found dead in his office. Reference was made to “confirmed reports” and to his brother Mahdi. It is unclear exactly where Iran was detained.
Mohammedi, one of Iran’s most prominent human rights lawyers, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023.
He spent most of the last two decades detained in Tehran’s Evin prison, which is notorious for housing critics of the regime.
In December 2024, Iranian authorities suspended his prison sentence for three weeks to allow him to recover from surgery in November to remove part of a bone in his lower right leg, where doctors discovered a suspected cancerous lesion.
Muhammadi, accused of acting against national security and spreading propaganda, was expected to return soon to prison, where he was serving multiple sentences totaling 31 years.
Over the past year, he has continued his activism and has become increasingly vocal about the human rights situation in Iran, citing various human rights incidents around the world.
Last week, Mohammedi wrote an article for Time magazine in which he said that the Iranian people cannot truly experience peace because the state controls every aspect of their personal and private lives.
“Their peace is disrupted by surveillance, censorship, arbitrary detention, torture and the constant threat of violence,” he wrote. In the article, he called for support for Iran’s civil society, independent media, human rights and women’s rights defenders.
One report He remained defiant during a three-week medical release from prison in December 2024, when he was with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “Whether we are inside or outside Evin, my goal is very clear and we will not stop until we achieve democracy,” he said.
“We want freedom, we want equality… That’s why I will continue my struggle no matter which side of the wall I am on.”
The Narges Foundation said many more activists were arrested during the commemoration, but information about the situation was limited. The statement called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all detained persons who attended the commemoration ceremony to pay their respects and show solidarity.”
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