Iran: authorities must release writer and Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi immediately and ensure her safety

“We are deeply shocked by the news of the brutal assault and subsequent detention of prominent Iranian writer and Nobel laureate, Narges Mohammadi last week. Mohammadi has always faced persecution due to her expression and relentless human rights advocacy. Instead of listening to Mohammadi’s demands for respect and protection of Iranians’ rights and freedoms, the regime chose to silence her voice thought threats, violence, and imprisonment. Narges Mohammadi should be released immediately and provided with urgent medical care,” said Burhan Sonmez, President of PEN International. 

15 December 2025: PEN International strongly condemns the arbitrary, violent arrest and detention of writer, human rights defender, and Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi on 12 December and calls for her immediate and unconditional release. Iranian authorities should immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure that she has access to her lawyer and family. 

We remain deeply concerned about Mohammadi’s health and safety, and stress that Iranian authorities must ensure her urgent access to adequate medical care and protection against torture and other cruel and inhuman treatment. PEN International further reiterates its calls for the charges against her to be dropped and her sentence squashed.

On 12 December, Narges Mohammadi’s family announced that she had been violently arrested in Mashhad city while attending a memorial service for Iranian human rights lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead in suspicious circumstances earlier this month. The family received a brief call from Narges on 14 December, almost two days following her arrest, informing them that she had been hospitalised twice due to her injuries. She explained to her family that plain-clothed agents violently assaulted her with batons to the head and neck and issued death threats against her. According to the family’s statement, Mohammadi sounded unwell during the call, and she was unsure which security apparatus was responsible for her arrest and detention. 

Mohammadi was released from prison on medical furlough in December 2024 after undergoing leg surgery. That year, she received multiple prison sentences after unfair trials, raising her compounded sentences to over 35 years’ imprisonment, 154 lashes, and further restrictions on her social and political activism. She repeatedly faced bogus and vague charges, including ‘propaganda against the regime,’ ‘defamation,’ and ‘rebellious conduct’ related to her expression.  

Background 

Narges Mohammadi is an Iranian writer, journalist, human rights defender, and Honorary Member of the Danish, Belgian, Norwegian, Canadian and Swedish PEN centres. She is the former Vice President and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC), which advocates for human rights reform and represents political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in legal proceedings. Mohammadi is a recipient of the 2013 Oxfam Novib/PEN Award for Freedom of Expression and PEN America's 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. In October 2023, PEN International praised the decision by the Nobel Committee to award Mohammadi the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.  She has been arrested on several occasions over the past years and has spent prolonged periods in arbitrary imprisonment. 

For more information on Narges Mohammadi’s case history, click here 

Note to Editors: 

• For more information, please get in touch with Mina Thabet, Head of the MENA Region, at email: [email protected] 

• For media queries, please contact Sabrina Tucci, PEN International Head of Communications and Campaigns, email:  [email protected]