Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has launched a hunger strike while being held by Iranian authorities, her family’s Paris-based foundation said on Wednesday in a statement shared with CNN.
According to the foundation, credible information indicates that Mohammadi began her strike on Monday “to protest her unlawful detention and the dire conditions in which she is being held, realities faced by numerous political prisoners currently held in Iran."
Her son, Ali Rahmani, said he was “deeply worried" about his mother and all others detained by the regime. “What is happening in our country is a crime against humanity," he said, adding that before her arrest, his mother was “calling for solidarity, unity, and peace."
Mohammadi was arrested in December during a memorial ceremony for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer and human rights activist found dead in his office. She was detained in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city. She has since been reportedly hospitalized at least twice.
The foundation warned that Mohammadi’s medical history, which includes heart attacks, chest pain, high blood pressure, spinal disc issues, and other illnesses, makes “her continued detention extremely dangerous and a violation of human rights laws."
The group added that Mohammadi has been denied regular contact with her family. She has had only one phone call, with her brother on December 14, and none since.
At the time of her most recent arrest, Mohammadi had been on medical furlough since December 2024, initially granted for three weeks but extended amid pressure from activists and Western governments. She remained free even during the 12-day war in June between Iran and Israel.
Despite her medical leave, Mohammadi continued her activism, staging public protests and appearing in international media. At one point, she demonstrated outside Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, where she had previously been held.
She had been serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against the government. Mohammadi also supported the nationwide protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which saw women openly defy the regime by refusing to wear the hijab.
Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all."
Iran's Foreign Ministry condemned the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Mohammadi, claiming the move was biased and amounted to a “politicization" of the prize.