Iran Nobel laureate taken to hospital after 'violent arrest'

Narges Mohammadi, the Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was hospitalized after what her family describes as a violent arrest last week.

The Narges Foundation reported that the 53-year-old human rights activist informed her family in a Sunday phone call that she had been twice admitted to the emergency department. She stated that plainclothes agents had attacked her, inflicting severe baton blows to her head and neck.

Iranian authorities have not commented on the specific allegations of violence. That said, the reality is a bit more complicated. they stated that Mohammadi was detained for making "provocative remarks" at a memorial ceremony in Mashhad on Friday.

Calls for her release have come from the Nobel Committee and filmmaker Jafar Panahi, among others. Mohammadi, who serves as the vice-president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, received the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her work against the oppression of women and her promotion of human rights in Iran.

She has already spent over a decade in prison. Since 2021, she has been serving a 13-year sentence on charges which she denies: "propaganda activity against the state" and "collusion against state security." In December 2024, she was temporarily released from Tehran's Evin prison for medical reasons, but continued her campaigning during treatment.

Mohammadi's recent arrest occurred after she delivered a speech at a memorial service in Mashhad for Khosrow Alikordi, a human rights activist and lawyer. Alikordi was found dead earlier this month in what human rights groups have called "suspicious" circumstances.

According to the Narges Foundation, family sources reported that eyewitnesses said approximately 15 plainclothes agents attacked Mohammadi at the memorial, pulling her hair and beating her with batons. In her brief phone call to her family on Sunday evening, Mohammadi stated that "the intensity of the blows was so heavy, forceful, and repeated that she was taken to the hospital emergency room twice," according to the foundation's statement.

The statement also relayed that Mohammadi said she did not know which security authority was detaining her, and no explanation had been provided. Her physical condition during the call was described as poor.

Mohammadi also reported being accused of "co-operating with the Israeli government" and receiving a death threat: "We will put your mother into mourning."

The Narges Foundation also stated that two other activists, Sepideh Gholian and Pouran Nazemi, were also beaten by the plainclothes agents at the memorial service.

Mashhad prosecutor Hasan Hematifar told reporters on Saturday that Mohammadi was among 39 people arrested. He alleged that she and Khosrow Alikordi's brother, Javad, had encouraged attendees to chant slogans that broke norms and disturbed the peace.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed deep concern on Friday regarding what it termed the "brutal arrest" of Mohammadi and urged Iranian authorities to ensure her safety and release her unconditionally.

A joint statement from Jafar Panahi, fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, and over a dozen other activists described the events at Alikordi's memorial ceremony as "a stark reflection of the worrying state of freedom and security, and, consequently, the inefficiency and lack of accountability of the authorities in today's Iran."