Iranian Nobel laureate sent to hospital after ‘violent arrest’

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nargis Mohammadi was beaten and taken to hospital after being beaten during her arrest last week, her family said.

The 53-year-old human rights activist told them by phone on Sunday that she had been taken to the emergency room twice after being “attacked by plainclothes agents and repeatedly punched in the head and neck with batons.” According to the Nargis Foundation.

Iranian authorities have not commented, but they said she was detained for making “provocative remarks” during a commemoration ceremony in the city of Mashhad on Friday.

The Nobel committee and award-winning film producer Jaafar Panahi have both called for her release.

Ms. Mohammadi, Vice Chairman of the Center for Human Rights Defenders of Iran, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her activities against the oppression of women in Iran and the promotion of human rights.

She has spent more than 10 years of her life in prison. She has been serving a 13-year sentence since 2021 for “anti-state propaganda activities” and “conspiracy to endanger national security”, which she denies.

In December 2024, she was temporarily released from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison for health reasons.

She continued her campaign while receiving treatment.

On Friday, she spoke at a memorial service in Mashhad for human rights activist and lawyer Khosrow Alikordi. Khosrow Alikodi was found dead earlier this month, with human rights groups calling his death “suspicious.”

According to the Nargis Foundation, Ms Mohammadi’s family, citing witnesses, said she was attacked by about 15 plainclothes agents inside the memorial, some of whom were seen pulling her hair and beating her with sticks and batons.

A statement said Ms Mohammadi made a brief phone call to her family on Sunday night to tell them “the beatings were so intense, powerful and repeated that she was taken to the hospital emergency room twice”.

“She emphasized that she did not even know which security service was currently detaining her and was not given any explanation for this. She was in poor health and appeared to be unwell when she received the call,” it added.

The Narges Foundation quoted Ms Mohammadi as saying she was accused of “collaborating with the Israeli government” and that they had issued death threats against her, telling her: “We will leave your mother in mourning.”

Two other activists, Sepideh Gholian and Pouran Nazemi, who were detained at the commemoration ceremony, were also beaten by plainclothes officers, the statement said.

Mashhad prosecutor Hassan Hematifal told reporters on Saturday that Ms Mohammadi was one of 39 people arrested.

He said she and Khosrow Alikodi’s brother Jawad encouraged those present to “shout norm-breaking slogans” and “disrupt the peace.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday it was deeply concerned by Ms Mohammadi’s “brutal arrest” and called on the Iranian authorities to “ensure her safety and integrity and release her unconditionally”.

Jafar Panahi, film producer Mohammad Rasoulof and a dozen other activists said in a joint statement What happened at Alikodi’s memorial ceremony “clearly reflects the worrying state of freedom and security and the resulting inefficiency and lack of accountability of the Iranian authorities today.”