Iranian security forces on Friday detained 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi along with at least eight other activists during a memorial ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad, triggering widespread condemnation from international rights groups and the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which described the arrest as “brutal”.
Mohammadi, who had been granted temporary medical leave from prison in December 2024, was attending a ceremony for prominent lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, whose body was found in his office earlier this month under circumstances rights groups have called suspicious. Her foundation said on X that Mohammadi and eight others were taken into custody while paying their respects.
Among those arrested was Sepideh Gholian, a well-known activist who had previously been imprisoned alongside Mohammadi in Tehran’s Evin prison.
“These individuals were present solely to pay their respects and express solidarity at a memorial ceremony,” Mohammadi’s foundation said, adding that the arrests amounted to a “blatant and serious violation of fundamental freedoms and basic human rights”.
Allegations of Violence During Arrest
Mohammadi’s brother Hamid Mohammadi, speaking to AFP from Oslo, alleged that the Nobel laureate was physically assaulted during the arrest.
“Narges was beaten on the legs and she was held by her hair and dragged down,” he said, expressing concern for her fragile health.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it was “deeply concerned by today’s brutal arrest” and urged Iranian authorities to immediately clarify her whereabouts.
The arrest came just two days after the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, where the 2025 prize was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, a vocal critic of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, an ally of Iran. The committee said it “noted” the timing, citing the close cooperation between Tehran and Caracas.
Iranian Authorities Defend Detentions
Inside Iran, the Mehr news agency quoted Mashhad governor Hassan Hosseini as saying the individuals were detained for “chanting slogans deemed contrary to public norms” during the ceremony. Authorities did not identify those arrested by name.
Slogans, Protest and Funeral Tensions
Alikordi, 45, had represented clients in sensitive cases, including individuals arrested during the nationwide protests of 2022. His body was found on December 5, prompting calls for an independent investigation. Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said there were “very serious suspicions of a state murder”.
Footage shared by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) showed Mohammadi attending the ceremony without wearing the mandatory headscarf, surrounded by supporters.
According to HRANA, mourners chanted slogans such as “Long live Iran,” “We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation,” and “Death to the dictator” during the event, which marked seven days since Alikordi’s death in accordance with Islamic tradition.
Videos broadcast by Persian-language television channels based outside Iran showed Mohammadi standing atop a vehicle, microphone in hand, urging the crowd to continue chanting.
“When peaceful citizens cannot mourn without being beaten and dragged away, it reveals a government terrified of truth and accountability,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran. “It also reveals the extraordinary bravery of Iranians who refuse to surrender their dignity.”
Years Behind Bars and Health Concerns
Now 53, Mohammadi has spent much of the past decade in prison. She was last arrested in November 2021 and has endured repeated detentions for her activism against Iran’s compulsory hijab laws and the death penalty.
Her twin children accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf in Oslo in 2023, and she has not seen them for 11 years. Her temporary release in December 2024 was granted on medical grounds, following complications involving her lungs, heart, and multiple surgeries.
“In prison, she had many complications — her lungs, her heart — she has had operations,” her brother said. “What worries me most is the pressure they may put on her physical and psychological condition.”
Mohammadi has remained openly defiant, repeatedly predicting the downfall of Iran’s clerical system, which has ruled since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. In a message marking her twins’ 19th birthday last month, she wrote that the authorities themselves “live each day in fear of the fall that will inevitably come at the hands of the people of Iran”.