Imprisoned Iranian Activist Narges Mohammadi Awarded 2023 Nobel Peace Prize

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On Friday, imprisoned activist Narges Mohammadi was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her work against the oppression of women in Iran.

“I will never stop striving for the realization of democracy, freedom, and equality,” she said in a statement. “Surely, the Nobel Peace Prize will make me more resilient, determined, hopeful, and enthusiastic on this path, and it will accelerate my pace.”

According to the rights organization Front Line Defenders, Mohammadi is currently serving several multiple sentences in Tehran’s Evin prison, totaling about 12 years of imprisonment. She faces charges such as spreading propaganda against the state.

“The Norwegian Nobel committee has decided to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all,” the committee said in its citation.

Despite her imprisonment, Mohammadi remains active in her work, including warning of protests across the country by publishing letters about the state of detention centers and violence against prisoners and detainees. She also serves as the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organization led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

“Her courageous fight has come at a great personal cost,” the committee said. 

Mohammadi’s award comes after a series of protests across Iran due to the death in custody a year ago of a young Iranian Kurd, Mahsa Amini. Per the Times of Israel, Amini was arrested for violating Iran’s strict dress rules for women.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, also the anniversary of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist who founded the prestigious award in his 1895 will.

Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist. She is also the 19th woman to win the prize and the first since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won it in 2021, alongside Russia’s Dmitry Muratov.

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Video Courtesy: Reuters via YouTube

Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.