Oslo, December 13 — The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday strongly condemned the violent arrest of Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a leading Iranian human rights advocate, and urged Iranian authorities to disclose her whereabouts, guarantee her safety, and release her immediately.
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Committee, said Mohammadi was detained together with several other activists and described her as a committed defender of human rights, freedom of expression, and democratic participation in Iran. The Committee expressed solidarity with Mohammadi and with those in Iran working peacefully for the rule of law and fundamental freedoms, and it called on the authorities to ensure her physical integrity and to free her without conditions.
The Committee also noted the timing of the arrest, which coincided with the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, and suggested the incident adds to concerns about growing ties between the Iranian and Venezuelan authorities.
According to the Paris-based Narges Mohammadi Foundation, Iranian security forces detained Mohammadi forcefully on Friday during a memorial service for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer recently found dead in his office. Citing Mohammadi’s brother, Mehdi, the foundation said she was taken into custody in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.
Mohammadi is internationally recognized for her long-standing human rights work. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her efforts to promote democracy, the rule of law, and human rights in Iran. Over the past two decades she has spent extended periods imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison, a facility known for holding critics of the Iranian government.
In December 2024 Iranian authorities temporarily suspended her prison sentence for three weeks so she could recover from surgery the previous month, when doctors removed part of her lower right leg after finding a lesion suspected to be cancerous. She had been expected to return to custody but remained on furlough until this recent arrest, the foundation said.
The foundation adds that Mohammadi has been handed multiple prison terms totaling 36 years on charges that include acting against national security and spreading propaganda. Despite repeated incarceration and serious health challenges, she has continued to speak out internationally and campaign for justice and greater freedoms in Iran.
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