Over 110 Nobel laureates urge Iran to free ailing Narges Mohammadi
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More than 110 Nobel laureates have called for the immediate and unconditional release of Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi after she was transferred to hospital amid growing concerns over her rapidly deteriorating health.
In a statement released on Tuesday, 112 Nobel laureates urged Iranian authorities and the international community to act “without delay” to secure Mohammadi’s release and ensure she receives continued medical treatment.
Mohammadi, who won the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her decades-long campaign for women’s rights in Iran, was transferred by ambulance to Tehran’s Pars Hospital on May 10 in critical condition for specialised treatment.
The activist has reportedly suffered severe weight loss, unstable blood pressure and serious cardiac symptoms while in detention. She was also found unconscious in her prison cell following a possible heart attack. Although she has been moved to hospital, her representatives fear she could be sent back to prison if her condition stabilises.
The Nobel laureates demanded her immediate release and called for all charges against her to be dropped.
“Medical experts warn that her life may be at imminent risk,” the joint statement said, adding that Mohammadi had been denied specialised medical care for months during her imprisonment.
The signatories include 26 Nobel laureates in chemistry, 12 in economics, five in literature, 29 in medicine, 11 peace laureates and 29 in physics. Among them are authors Annie Ernaux and J. M. Coetzee.
Jody Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, said Mohammadi “should never have been brought to the brink of death”.
“No one, anywhere, should be imprisoned for peaceful protest or for defending human rights,” Williams said.
Yemeni journalist and 2011 Nobel laureate Tawakkol Karman described Mohammadi as “the fearless voice of women resisting oppression and demanding freedom”.
“No prison can silence the struggle for dignity and justice. Narges must be released, and the world must continue to stand with the women of Iran,” Karman said.
Mohammadi’s Paris-based son, Ali Rahmani, said the temporary suspension of his mother’s sentence was “simply not enough”.
“After years of imprisonment, solitary confinement and systematic medical neglect, her life still hangs by a thread,” he said.
“We do not just want her out of a cell for a few days; we demand a permanent end to this judicial persecution. My mom requires unconditional freedom and long-term, specialised care without the shadow of a return to the environment that nearly killed her.”
Mohammadi has been repeatedly detained by Iranian authorities since her first arrest in 1998 for her activism, including campaigns against the death penalty and Iran’s mandatory hijab laws. She has received multiple sentences amounting to more than 44 years in prison and 154 lashes.