What Narges Mohammadi’s Nobel means for Iran Opinion by Alexandra Sharp

Foreign Policy features an article by Alexandra Sharp arguing that the fight for women’s rights in Tehran is far from over. Caliber.Az reprints the piece.

Amid a growing outcry over women’s rights abuses in Iran, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi with the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. A former journalist and the vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, Mohammadi was celebrated for her fight against women’s oppression by Iran’s so-called morality police.

“We hope today’s prize will send a clear message to world leaders including the United States that international pressure is needed to improve the lives of girls and women in Iran,” said Henrik Urdal, the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, which helps selects the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Mohammadi has been arrested 13 times, convicted five times, and sentenced to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes for her advocacy work. She is currently serving multiple sentences, adding up to roughly 12 years, at Tehran’s Evin Prison.

Recognition of Mohammadi’s work has also highlighted the plight of other Iranian women and girls, including Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old who remains in a coma after allegedly being attacked by the morality police on Sunday for not wearing a headscarf on a public subway car. Under Iranian law, all women and girls 9 years old and older must cover their hair to abide by the country’s strict interpretation of Islamic dress code.

Garavand is currently hospitalized in an intensive care unit for cerebral haemorrhaging. Iranian authorities have denied accusations of state forces assaulting Garavand. Instead, they allege that Garavand lost consciousness and hit her head when her blood pressure dropped because she skipped breakfast that morning. The whereabouts of Garavand’s mother, who reiterated the police’s official statement, have been unknown since Wednesday.

Many Iranians have drawn parallels between Garavand’s injuries and the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody in September 2022 after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly, sparking mass protests. Since then, the Iranian government has arrested thousands of activists and killed around 500 others. Last month, Iran also passed new legislation imposing stricter fines and prison sentences for those who violate the country’s dress code policies.

Still, Mohammadi maintains that the future of women in Iran remains bright. “The global support and recognition of my human rights advocacy makes me more resolved, more responsible, more passionate and more hopeful,” she wrote in a statement to the New York Times from prison. “I also hope this recognition makes Iranians protesting for change stronger and more organized. Victory is near.”