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Who is Narges Mohammadi and why Iran has sentenced the Nobel Peace Prize winner again?

The Narges Foundation, which supports her, described Saturday’s court hearing as a “sham” and said Mohammadi began a hunger strike on 2 February.

3 min readFeb 9, 2026 11:29 PM IST First published on: Feb 9, 2026 at 05:53 AM IST
IranNarges Mohammadi is a leading Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. (File Photo)

Narges Mohammadi is a leading Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner known for campaigning against the oppression of women and political repression in Iran.

Iranian authorities accuse her of organising protests and spreading propaganda against the state. She and her supporters deny the charges and say she is being punished for peaceful activism.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been given additional prison sentences totalling seven-and-a-half years, her lawyer has said, according to the BBC.

Mostafa Nili, writing on social media on Sunday, said a court in the north-eastern city of Mashhad sentenced Mohammadi to six years for “gathering and collusion” and one-and-a-half years for “propaganda activities”.

She has also been given a two-year travel ban and sentenced to two years of internal exile in the eastern Khusf region, her lawyer said.

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Arrest after memorial ceremony

Mohammadi, 53, was arrested in December after attending a memorial service for lawyer Khosrow Alikordi, who was found dead in his office earlier that month.

Iranian officials said she made “provocative remarks” at the event. Her family, however, said she was beaten during the arrest and later taken to hospital.

The Narges Foundation, which supports her, described Saturday’s court hearing as a “sham” and said Mohammadi began a hunger strike on 2 February.

Nili said she was taken to hospital again three days ago because of her poor health before being returned to detention.

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“When she began to explain what happened during her arrest, the phone call was cut,” he said.

Family condemns ruling

Mohammadi’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, told the BBC the sentence was “cruel and very unfair”.

He said she refused to defend herself in court because she believed the judiciary had “no legitimacy”, adding: “She did not say a single word and did not sign any document.”

Her daughter, Kiana Rahmani, said the family was deeply worried about her mother’s health.

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Years behind bars

Mohammadi has already spent more than a decade in prison. The Narges Foundation says the latest ruling brings the total prison time ordered against her to 44 years.

Since 2021, she has been serving a 13-year sentence on national security charges, which she denies.
She was briefly released from Evin prison in December 2024 for medical treatment but was expected to return to custody.

Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her long-running campaign for women’s rights and human rights in Iran.

Human rights groups have repeatedly called for her immediate release, along with that of all political prisoners in the country.

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