The Norwegian Nobel Committee has urgently appealed to Iran to cease its abusive and potentially deadly treatment of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Narges Mohammadi, who has been incarcerated since December.
The committee highlighted that it had obtained “credible reports” detailing “life-threatening mistreatment” of Mohammadi. She was detained by undercover agents while peacefully attending the funeral of prominent human rights lawyer and advocate Khosrow Alikordi.
Reports indicate that Mohammadi has suffered severe physical abuse, including being struck with wooden sticks and batons, and dragged by her hair, resulting in scalp injuries and open wounds, according to the committee.
Ali and Kiana Rahmani, the children of the detained Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, represented their mother at the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 2023, accepting the honor on her behalf.
Additionally, she has endured repeated assaults to her genital and pelvic areas, causing her excruciating pain and potential bone fractures, severely impacting her mobility, the committee reported.
“The Committee is appalled by these actions and emphasizes that Ms. Mohammadi’s imprisonment is both arbitrary and unjust,” stated committee Chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes. “Her sole ‘crime’ is the peaceful exercise of her fundamental rights—freedom of expression, association, and assembly—while championing 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.
