Iran has arrested Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, her supporters mentioned on Friday (December 12, 2025).
A basis in her title mentioned she was detained in Mashhad, some 680 kilometers (420 miles) northeast of the capital, Tehran, whereas attending a memorial for a human rights lawyer just lately discovered lifeless below unclear circumstances.
There was no instant remark from Iran over its detention of Mohammadi, 53. It wasn’t clear if authorities would instantly return her to jail to serve the remainder of her time period.
Nevertheless, her detention comes as Iran has been cracking down on intellectuals and others as Tehran struggles with sanctions, an ailing economic system and the worry of a renewed warfare with Israel. Arresting Ms. Mohammadi could spark elevated stress from the West at a time when Iran repeatedly indicators it needs new negotiations with america over its nuclear program — one thing that has but to occur.
Her supporters on Friday described her as having been “violently detained earlier in the present day by safety and police forces.” They mentioned different activists had been arrested as properly at a ceremony honoring Khosrow Alikordi, a 46-year-old Iranian lawyer and human rights advocate who had been primarily based in Mashhad.
“The Narges Basis requires the instant and unconditional launch of all detained people who have been attending a memorial ceremony to pay their respects and reveal solidarity,” a press release learn. “Their arrest constitutes a critical violation of basic freedoms.”
Alikordi was discovered lifeless earlier this month in his workplace, with officers in Razavi Khorasan describing his demise as a coronary heart assault. Nevertheless, a tightening safety crackdown coincided together with his demise, elevating questions. Over 80 legal professionals signed a press release demanding extra data.
“Alikordi was a outstanding determine amongst Iran’s neighborhood of human rights defenders,” the New York-based Middle for Human Rights in Iran mentioned on Thursday (December 11, 2025). “Over the previous a number of years, he had been repeatedly arrested, harassed and threatened by safety and judicial forces.”
Footage purportedly of the ceremony confirmed Ms. Mohammadi on a microphone, calling out to the group gathered with out sporting a hijab, or headband. She began the group chanting the title Majidreza Rahnavard, a person whom authorities hanged from a crane in a public execution in 2022.
Footage revealed by her basis additionally confirmed her and not using a hijab, surrounded by a big crowd.
Supporters had warned for months that Ms. Mohammadi was liable to being put again into jail after she acquired a furlough in December 2024 over medical considerations.
Whereas that was to be solely three weeks, Ms. Mohammadi’s day trip of jail lengthened, probably as activists and Western powers pushed Iran to maintain her free. She remained out even through the 12-day warfare in June between Iran and Israel.
Ms. Mohammadi nonetheless saved up her activism with public protests and worldwide media appearances, together with even demonstrating at one level in entrance of Tehran’s infamous Evin jail, the place she had been held.
Ms. Mohammadi had been serving 13 years and 9 months on expenses of collusion towards state safety and propaganda towards Iran’s authorities. She additionally had backed the nationwide protests sparked by the 2022 demise of Mahsa Amini, which have seen ladies overtly defy the federal government by not sporting the hijab.
Ms. Mohammadi suffered a number of coronary heart assaults whereas imprisoned earlier than present process emergency surgical procedure in 2022, her supporters say. Her lawyer in late 2024 revealed docs had discovered a bone lesion that they feared might be cancerous that later was eliminated.
“Ms. Mohammadi’s docs just lately prescribed an extension of her medical depart for not less than six extra months to conduct thorough and common medical examinations, together with monitoring the bone lesion which was faraway from her leg in November, physiotherapy classes to recuperate from the surgical procedure and specialised cardiac care,” the Free Narges Coalition mentioned in late February 2025.
“The medical workforce overseeing Ms. Mohammadi’s well being has warned that her return to jail — particularly below traumatic situations of detention and with out sufficient medical services — might severely worsen her bodily well-being.”
An engineer by coaching, Ms. Mohammadi has been imprisoned 13 occasions and convicted 5. In complete, she has been sentenced to over 30 years in jail. Her final incarceration started when she was detained in 2021 after attending a memorial for an individual killed in nationwide protests.
Revealed – December 12, 2025 08:44 pm IST
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