Nobel Peace Prize Winner Narges Mohammadi Arrested at Memorial Service in Iran Amid Ongoing Human Rights Struggle

Mohammadi, 53, has spent significant portions of the past decade incarcerated.

On Friday, Iranian security forces "violently" apprehended 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi during a memorial service for attorney Khosrow Alikordi, who died earlier this month, according to her supporters.

Mohammadi, who had been granted temporary prison leave in December 2024, was detained alongside several other activists during the ceremony for Alikordi, whose body was discovered in his office last week, her foundation reported on X.

Her Paris-based husband, Taghi Rahmani, also stated on X that she was arrested at the ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad, along with prominent activist Sepideh Gholian.

Alikordi, 45, was an attorney who had defended clients in sensitive cases, including individuals arrested during the nationwide protest crackdown that erupted in 2022.

His body was found on December 5, with human rights organizations calling for an investigation into his death. The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights indicated there was "very serious suspicion of a state murder."

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) shared footage of Mohammadi, not wearing the mandatory headscarf required for women in public in the Islamic republic, attending the ceremony with other Alikordi supporters.

The agency reported that attendees chanted slogans including "Long live Iran," "We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation," and "Death to the dictator" at the ceremony, which marked seven days since Alikordi's death, following Islamic tradition.

Additional footage broadcast by Persian-language television channels based outside Iran showed Mohammadi standing atop a vehicle with a microphone, encouraging people to join in chanting slogans.

Mohammadi, 53, who was last detained in November 2021, has been imprisoned for much of the past decade.

Her twin children accepted the Nobel prize on her behalf in Oslo in 2023, as she has been unable to see them for 11 years. Last month, Mohammadi revealed in a message marking her twins' 19th birthday that she has been permanently banned from leaving Iran.

Despite these restrictions, she has remained defiant outside prison, refusing to wear the headscarf, addressing international audiences via video conferences, and meeting with activists throughout Iran.

Mohammadi has consistently predicted the eventual downfall of the clerical system that has governed Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.