Iranian nobel laureate arrested during funeral of rights lawyer

Friday 12 December 2025 - 15:30

By: Sahili Aya

Iranian nobel laureate arrested during funeral of rights lawyer

Iranian security forces detained Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi and several civil society activists during a memorial ceremony held in the city of Mashhad, according to Iranian rights groups.

The Narges Mohammadi Foundation reported that the prominent activist was arrested on Friday while attending the seventh-day mourning ceremony for Khosrow Alikordi, a well-known human rights lawyer whose recent death has stirred public concern. Alikordi, a former political prisoner and defender of detained protesters, was discovered dead in his office under circumstances that many activists and colleagues describe as suspicious. Although authorities cited cardiac arrest, several lawyers questioned the official explanation and suggested the possibility of security force involvement.

The foundation stated that Mohammadi’s arrest was carried out with force by police and security agents. Other activists — including Sepideh Gholian, Hasti Amiri, Pouran Nazemi and Alieh Motalebzadeh — were also detained during the ceremony. Rights monitors said additional attendees, among them lawyers and civic activists, were taken away by agents in plain clothes.

Javad Alikordi, the brother of the deceased lawyer, said in an audio message that Mohammadi and Gholian were beaten before being taken into custody. According to him, detainees were transferred to a facility reportedly linked to the intelligence branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Mashhad.

Mohammadi, one of Iran’s leading human rights figures, has long warned of threats from security forces. In August, she told Der Spiegel that she had received direct and indirect death threats from intelligence agents. The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee later confirmed that Mohammadi had communicated similar concerns, describing threats of “physical elimination” by state agents.

Human rights groups say pressure on activists and journalists has intensified in Iran in recent months, particularly since the June ceasefire with Israel. Mohammadi, who is serving a combined 13-year and nine-month prison sentence on national security charges, is currently on medical furlough from Tehran’s Evin Prison. She has declared she will not return voluntarily, stating that any forced re-arrest would be an act of civil resistance.