Iranian HRD/Woman's activist arrested

Narges Mohammadi (born April 21, 1972, in Zanjān, Iran) is one of the most prominent Iranian human rights defenders and women’s rights activists of her generation — and her life’s work has made her a symbol of resistance to state oppression and gender discrimination. She trained as an engineer and began speaking out for women’s rights and civil liberties as a student, later becoming a journalist and writer who highlighted injustices in Iranian society. Mohammadi served as vice president and spokesperson for the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), an organization co-founded by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi that advocates for political prisoners and fundamental freedoms.

For over two decades she has campaigned against the mandatory hijab, for the abolition of the death penalty, and for better treatment of detainees and political prisoners — a stance that repeatedly brought her into conflict with Iranian authorities. She has been arrested many times (over a dozen), tried on multiple politically motivated charges such as “propaganda against the state” and “collusion against state security,” and sentenced cumulatively to many years in prison along with other penalties. From within detention, she has documented prison abuses, organized educational activities and protests, and even written on behalf of fellow prisoners.

In October 2023 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” making her the second Iranian woman to receive the prize.  Critics inside Iran sometimes debate her reach or strategy, but internationally she is widely seen as a courageous advocate for ordinary Iranians, especially women and political prisoners, whose activism has come at tremendous personal cost — including continued imprisonment, health risks, and prolonged separation from her family.