Mashhad, Dec 13, 2025: Iranian security forces on Friday detained 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi along with at least eight other activists during a memorial ceremony for slain lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, in what the Norwegian Nobel Committee condemned as a “brutal” arrest.
Mohammadi, who had been granted temporary release from prison in December 2024 due to health concerns, was taken into custody alongside prominent activist Sepideh Gholian and others while attending the ceremony in the eastern city of Mashhad, her foundation said.
“These individuals were present solely to pay their respects and express solidarity,” the foundation said, adding that the arrests “constitute a blatant and serious violation of fundamental freedoms and basic human rights.”
Hamid Mohammadi, her brother, told AFP from Oslo that Narges “was beaten on the legs and held by her hair and dragged down.”
The Nobel Committee expressed deep concern over the arrests and called on Iran to immediately clarify Mohammadi’s whereabouts. The arrest came shortly after the Nobel ceremony in Oslo for the 2025 Peace Prize, awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. The committee noted the timing, highlighting the close collaboration between Iran and Venezuela.
Iranian authorities, citing Mashhad governor Hassan Hosseini, claimed the individuals had been arrested for “chanting slogans deemed contrary to public norms,” without naming them. Witnesses reported that Mohammadi and others had shouted slogans such as “Long live Iran,” “We fight, we die, we accept no humiliation,” and “Death to the dictator,” during the memorial, which marked seven days since Alikordi’s death.
Alikordi, 45, had defended clients in sensitive cases, including detainees from the 2022 nationwide protests. His body was found on December 5, and rights groups have called for a probe, with Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights raising “very serious suspicion of a state murder.”
Footage shared by human rights organisations showed Mohammadi speaking to the crowd and encouraging people to chant slogans, with many observers noting she was not wearing the mandatory headscarf. Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the New York-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran, said, “When peaceful citizens cannot mourn without being beaten and dragged away, it reveals a government terrified of truth and accountability. It also reveals the extraordinary bravery of Iranians who refuse to surrender their dignity.”
Mohammadi, 53, has spent much of the past decade in prison, and her children received her Nobel Prize in Oslo in 2023 on her behalf. Her temporary release last year was granted on health grounds due to lung and heart complications. Her brother expressed concern for her wellbeing, saying authorities may exert pressure that could aggravate her physical and psychological condition.
Throughout her activism, Mohammadi has consistently criticized Iran’s clerical system and predicted its eventual downfall, telling her children last month that “they themselves live each day in fear of the fall that will inevitably come at the hands of the people of Iran.”
