Mashhad, Iran, 13 December (H.S.): Iranian security forces have reportedly forcibly detained Nobel Peace Prize winner and women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi in the eastern city of Mashhad, prompting widespread condemnation from international human rights groups.

According to the Narges Foundation, the 53-year-old activist was violently arrested on Friday along with several fellow campaigners while attending a memorial service for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer who was found dead in his office last week. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights has described the lawyer’s death as “suspicious” and demanded an independent investigation.

The Nobel Committee expressed deep concern over Mohammadi’s arrest, calling on Iranian authorities to disclose her whereabouts, ensure her safety, and grant her immediate and unconditional release. As of Friday evening, the Iranian government had issued no public response.

Narges Mohammadi, recipient of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, has long been a leading voice in Iran’s struggle against female oppression and state repression. She was granted a three-week medical furlough in December 2024 from Tehran’s Evin Prison, where she had been held since 2021. Her arrest on Friday came just before she was reportedly due to return to prison.Witnesses said several participants at the memorial chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator” and “Long live Iran” before being detained by security forces.

Her husband, Taghi Rahmani, told that Mohammadi was taken into custody “violently,” describing the act as “a clear violation of human rights and an act of reprisal.” He also warned that the regime’s crackdown on civil society had sharply intensified in recent months.

In recent writings, Mohammadi accused Iranian authorities of escalating repression since the June ceasefire with Israel. Writing in Time magazine last week, she condemned a system “built on surveillance, censorship, arbitrary arrests, torture, and the constant threat of violence.”

The Nobel Committee noted it had also received reports of threats directed at Mohammadi through intermediaries, warning her to end all public advocacy in exchange for safety.

Despite the warnings, Mohammadi has remained defiant — refusing to wear the mandatory headscarf and continuing to meet dissidents and activists across Iran.Over her decades of activism,Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times and sentenced to a cumulative 36 years in prison and 154 lashes, according to her foundation. Her detention on Friday underscores what observers describe as a deepening campaign by Iran’s leadership to silence its most outspoken critics.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar