Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her tireless campaign for women’s rights and democracy and against the death penalty. From jail, Mohammadi issued a written statement to The New York Times, hoping “this recognition makes Iranians protesting for change stronger… Victory is near.”
Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests and years behind bars. She is a leading light for women-led protests sparked by the death last year of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. The demonstrations grew into one of the most intense challenges ever to Iran’s theocratic government.
The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, began the announcement with the Farsi words “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi” (woman, life, freedom) – the slogan of the protests in Iran. “I appeal to Iran: Do something dignified and release the Nobel laureate,” she said. Tehran called the award “biased and politically motivated”.
This is the fifth time the peace prize has gone to someone in prison or under house arrest. Mohammadi is the second Iranian, after rights activist Shirin Ebadi (peace prize in 2003), to win a Nobel. ap
Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian activist, was named the recipient of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.” The announcement comes after women-led protests in Iran that convulsed the country following the death in police custody of a 22-year-old who had been arrested by the country’s morality police. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing government crackdown, including at least 44 minors, while around 20,000 Iranians were arrested, the UN calculated.
“This year’s peace prize also recognises the hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women,” the committee said. “The motto adopted by the demonstrators – ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ – suitably expresses the dedication and work of Narges Mohammadi.”
Mohammadi, 51, joins 137 laureates named since the prize’s inception in 1901, a list that includes Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa. She is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the second Iranian woman after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the award in 2003.
Mohammadi has dedicated her career to fighting government repression with a focus on women’s rights. She is currently serving a 10-year jail sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison for “spreading anti-state propaganda.” Her 30 years of activism to peacefully bring grassroots change to Iran through education, advocacy and civil disobedience has come with a hefty price: her liberty, her career as an engineer, her health and separation from her family. Her husband and fellow activist, Taghi Rahmani, and her twin 16-year-old children live in exile in France. She has not seen her children in eight years. Ali Rahmani, Mohammadi’s son, said he was extremely proud of his mother. “This is not a prize just for my mom; it is for the Iranian people, for the fight.”
Iran has arrested Mohammadi 13 times, convicted her five times and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in jail and 154 lashes. Even from inside prison, she has been one of Iran’s most outspoken critics. She has organised protests and sit-ins as part of the uprising, led by women, that rocked Iran last year, written guest essays and organised weekly workshops for women inmates.