DUBAI. – Iranian security forces “forcibly” arrested the winner this Friday des Nobel Peace Prize 2023, Narges Mohammadiduring the ceremony to commemorate a late lawyer, according to his supporters.
A foundation that bears her name said she was being held in Mashhad, about 680 kilometers northeast of Tehran attended a ceremony honoring a human rights lawyer who was recently found dead under unclear circumstances.
So far, Iran has not commented on the detention of 53-year-old Mohammadi. It is unknown whether authorities would immediately return her to prison to serve the remainder of her sentence.
However, his arrest comes in the middle of one Wave of repression against intellectuals and others by Tehranas the country faces sanctions, a weakened economy and fears of another war with Israel. Mohammadi’s arrest could increase pressure from the West, even though Iran has repeatedly signaled that it wants to start new negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program, but this has not yet happened.
His supporters said Friday that Mohammadi was the one “Forcibly arrested by security forces and police today.”
They said other activists were also arrested at a tribute ceremony Khosrow Alikordia 46-year-old Iranian lawyer and human rights defender based in Mashhad.
“The Narges Foundation calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained individuals who took part in a ceremony of appreciation and solidarity,” it said in a statement. “His arrest represents a serious violation of fundamental freedoms.”
Alikordi was found dead in his office earlier this month, and Razavi Khorasan authorities described his death as a heart attack. However, his death coincided with a tightening of security measures, raising questions. More than 80 lawyers signed a statement demanding more information.
“Alikordi was a prominent figure in the Iranian human rights community,” the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran said Thursday. “In recent years he has been repeatedly arrested, harassed and threatened by security and judicial forces.”
In pictures allegedly taken at the ceremony, Mohammadi appears with a microphone and speaks to the assembled crowd without a hat with the hijab or Islamic veil. She began asking the crowd to chant the name of Majidreza Rahnavard, a man who authorities hanged from a crane in a public execution in 2022. In pictures published by her foundation, she also appears without a hijab, surrounded by a large crowd.
Supporters had warned for months that Mohammadi After receiving clearance for health reasons in December 2024, she was threatened with being sent back to prison.
Although the authorization was only valid for three weeks, Mohammadi’s time out of prison was extended, possibly because activists and Western powers pressured Iran to keep her free. He also remained out of prison during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June.
Mohammadi continued her activism with public protests and international media appearances, even once demonstrating outside Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where she was imprisoned.
The activist fulfilled a Prison sentence of 13 years and nine months for collusion against state security and propaganda against the Iranian government. She had also supported the nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022, in which many women openly defied the government by not wearing the hijab.
Mohammadi suffered several heart attacks While she was incarcerated before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her followers note. In late 2024, his lawyer announced that doctors had found a bone lesion that they feared could be cancerous and that it was later removed.
“Mohammadi’s doctors recently ordered an extension of his medical leave for at least six additional months to conduct comprehensive and regular medical examinations, including monitoring of the bone lesion removed from his leg in November, physical therapy sessions to recover from surgery, and specialized cardiac treatment,” the Freedom for Narges Coalition stated in late February 2025.
“The medical team monitoring Mohammadi’s health has warned that his return to prison, particularly under stressful prison conditions and without adequate medical facilities, could seriously deteriorate his physical well-being.”
Mohammadi is a trained engineer Imprisoned 13 times and convicted five times. In total, she was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison. Her most recent detention began in 2021 after she attended a ceremony honoring a person killed in nationwide protests.
In August he told the German magazine The mirror that secret service agents had directly and indirectly threatened her with death.
AP and ANSA agencies
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