Share and Follow
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has issued an urgent plea to Iran, demanding an end to the severe mistreatment and endangerment of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, who has been incarcerated since December.
According to the committee, they have received “credible reports” indicating that Mohammadi, a dedicated activist, has been subjected to “life-threatening mistreatment” following her arrest by plainclothes officers. She was apprehended while peacefully attending the funeral of the renowned human rights lawyer and advocate Khosrow Alikordi.
Reports detail that Mohammadi has endured brutal beatings with wooden sticks and batons. She was also dragged by her hair, resulting in torn scalp sections and open wounds, according to the committee’s statement.
At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on December 10, 2023, Mohammadi’s children, Ali and Kiana Rahmani, represented their mother, who remains a prisoner in Iran. They accepted the prestigious award on her behalf.
The committee further reported that Mohammadi suffered repeated kicks to her genitals and pelvic area, causing her severe pain and immobility, with the possibility of bone fractures being a serious concern.
“The Committee is horrified by these acts, and reiterates that Ms. Mohammadi’s imprisonment is arbitrary and unjust,” committee Chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes said in a statement. “Her only ‘offence’ is the peaceful exercise of her fundamental rights – freedom of expression, association and assembly – in defence (sic) of women’s equality and human dignity.”
Ali Rahmani, son of Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned Iranian human rights activist, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, speaks after receiving the award on behalf of his mother at Oslo City Hall, Norway. (NTB/Fredrik Varfjell via REUTERS)
An Iranian prosecutor at the time of the arrest told reporters that Mohammadi made provocative remarks at the memorial ceremony in the northeastern city of Mashhad and encouraged those present “to chant norm‑breaking slogans” and “disturb the peace,” Reuters reported.
Mohammadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, has spent much of the last two decades in Iran’s infamous Evin prison.
The committee is calling on Tehran to release Mohammadi and guarantee her access to medical care.
The state tax building burned during Iran’s protests, on a street in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 19, 2026. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
“Mohammadi’s ordeal is yet another grim example of the brutal repression that has followed the mass protests in Iran, where countless women and men have risked their lives to demand freedom, equality and basic human rights,” it said.