Narges Mohammadi has become the face of resistance in Iran. Tirelessly and for decades, she has fought from within for women’s rights and human rights. This Friday, the Swedish committee rewarded his courageous activism by awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize. The medal will not soon be around the neck of the 51-year-old activist and journalist, imprisoned multiple times since 1998 and still detained today. But this award highlights this fight for freedom and human rights in a country where protests have exploded over the past year and the death of Mahsa Amini, arrested by the morality police.
“I am very moved,” reacts Azadeh Kian, professor of political sociology at the University of Paris-cité. “Narges Mohammadi is an extremely courageous woman who has dedicated decades of her life to defending human and women’s rights. She has been imprisoned for years and has not been able to see her children grow up,” recalls the Iran specialist. The activism of the 2023 Nobel Prize winner has indeed been accompanied by numerous sacrifices. Her 17-year-old twins, refugees in France since 2012, have not been able to see her for years.
A “symbol for Iranians”
“She sacrificed her life for the cause of the Iranians” and decided “to defend them whatever it cost,” adds Franco-Iranian journalist Mariam Pirzadeh. This reward, however, goes beyond the already exceptional life of Narges Mohammadi. Because she is “a symbol for Iranians”, the one who “defends the rights of the oppressed and fights to break the country’s patriarchal laws”, underlines the journalist, recalling that she “burned her obligatory veil in prison on September 16 last, the day of the death anniversary of Mahsa Amini”. The timing of this Nobel Prize is also very revealing, one year after the conflagration of Iran.
The Iranian streets were filled with the anger of protesters and, in particular, of women. These massive demonstrations, unprecedented in their scale, were brutally repressed. Hundreds of civilians have been shot and thousands arrested by the Iranian regime. At every stage, Narges Mohammadi supported the protest. “She manages to get letters out of one of the harshest prisons in the world denouncing the condition of the inmates, the rapes, the torture and messages of hope to continue the fight against this regime,” recalls Mariam Pirzadeh.
A resistance propelled “to the forefront of the international scene”
By awarding this prize, the Nobel committee therefore pays tribute to this fight for freedom. “It is a reward for all Iranian women who fight for their rights, for democracy and for freedom in their country. It symbolizes this resistance”, greets Azadeh Kian who adds that the sesame allows us to “put this fight at the forefront of the international scene”. “The whole world now knows that the Nobel Peace Prize winner is in prison and she has become Iran’s most famous prisoner abroad,” notes Mariam Pirzadeh. Inside Iran’s borders, however, it is more likely that the regime will be annoyed by this consecration.
The regime actually tends to silence icons who challenge it. “I doubt she will be released. The regime will turn a deaf ear to this price and probably declare that this is interference by Western countries in Iranian affairs, as it claimed during the demonstrations last year,” analyzes Azadeh Kian. An analysis shared by journalist Mariam Pirzadeh who adds that on the contrary, “his case could become even more problematic for the regime”. “When he feels cornered, he tends to increase repression,” she explains.
The strength of repression and the resilience of
Since the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini, the Iranian regime has implemented relentless repression. After crushing the mobilizations in the street, the regime attacked women who went out bareheaded in the street to show their opposition. At the end of September, Parliament adopted a law to strengthen sanctions against women who do not respect the regime’s sexist dress code. Iranian women who defy the ban now face up to ten years in prison. “We can unfortunately expect a toughening of repression. But this prize will boost society’s desire to continue fighting,” predicts Azadeh Kian.
The repression has placed a heavy weight on the fire of protest but discontent continues to live in people’s minds. The population currently has its eyes focused on the case of Armita Garavand. This 16-year-old girl is in a coma after collapsing in a Tehran metro on Sunday. If the regime assures that she suffered “a drop in tension”, NGOs report that the young girl who was not wearing a veil was attacked by members of the moral police. “If she dies and it is proven that it was at the hands of the Iranian police, the protests which have never disappeared from homes” could “return to the streets”, warns Mariam Pirzadeh.