Iran Arrests Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi and Human Rights Defenders in Mashhad

Plainclothes security forces arrested Narges Mohammadi and other human rights defenders during the seventh memorial service for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi in Mashhad on December 12, 2025, according to multiple rights groups.

“The Narges Mohammadi Foundation says Iranian security forces on Friday arrested Narges Mohammadi, a prominent human rights defender and the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in Mashhad”

Amu TV

The Hengaw Human Rights Organization said the detainees included Narges Mohammadi, Sepideh Qolian, and others, while DW reported that Mashhad governor Hassan Hosseini said the arrests were temporary and carried out under a prosecutor's order.

Amu TV

DW also reported that Yashar Tabrizi, a former political prisoner and activist, said on X that there were beatings of many attendees and more than 50 arrests.

Front Line Defenders said the arrest happened “in a violent manner” and described Mohammadi as being arrested alongside Aliyeh Matlozadeh, Sepideh Qolian, Hasti Amiri, Pouran Nazemi, and others at the memorial in Mashhad.

DW reported that Hassan Hosseini said the arrests were carried out under a prosecutor's order and that the reason was the expression of disruptive slogans, adding that the prosecutor's office stepped in to prevent trouble for those people.

In contrast, Taghi Rahmani, Narges Mohammadi's husband, said on X that “apparently the IRGC Intelligence carried out the Mashhad arrests,” while Amnesty International noted her medical condition and said she had been released from prison for medical reasons since late 2024.

DW

Front Line Defenders quoted the Steering Committee of the Freedom for Narges coalition calling the arrests “a brazen assault on all human rights defenders and journalists in Iran” and saying the movement would continue until Mohammadi and others were released unconditionally.

The same coalition statement said the arrests were “the clearest sign of the intensification of the suppression of freedom of assembly, freedom of the press, and the fundamental rights of the people” following the death of Khosrow Alikordi.

Fédération internationale pour les droits humains said the Mashhad prosecutor confirmed the detention of 39 people and that some detainees had been released on bail, while others were held at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad or the Soroush Detention Center in Mashhad.

“"I couldn't care less if you die; I don't want you to incur any more costs for the system”

El País

The same source said the whereabouts of others remained unknown and that Narges Mohammadi, Sepideh Qolian, Javad Alikordi, and several other detainees were charged with “propaganda against the regime” and “assembly and collusion against national security.”

Amu TV said it was not yet clear in which detention facility or city Narges Mohammadi was being held, while also citing the Narges Mohammadi Foundation’s claim that she was arrested “in a violent manner” by police and security forces during the memorial ceremony.

El País reported that Hamidreza Mohammadi said he feared she was being subjected to a “slow execution,” and it added that she was at Tehran Pars Hospital for a week as authorities refused to transfer her to a specialized hospital despite symptoms of a heart attack.