Tehran: Iran has denounced the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, describing the move as “biased and political.”
On Friday, October 6, the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo announced that the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize would be awarded to Narges “for her struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and her struggle to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement, “We note that the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to a person who was convicted of repeated violations of the laws and criminal acts,” adding, “We condemn this biased and political step.”
He continued, saying, “The action taken by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is a political manoeuvre that is in line with the interventionist and anti-Iranian policies pursued by some European governments, including the host country of the Nobel Committee.”
He considered that the decision to award Mohammadi represents a “disappointing deviation from its founding goals.”
Biden calls for her release
US President Joe Biden called on Iran to “immediately” release Narges, praising her “unwavering courage” after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
“This award is recognition that the world continues to hear Narges Mohammadi’s loud voice calling for freedom and equality,” Biden said in a statement, adding, “I urge the government of Iran to immediately release her and her fellow gender equality advocates.”
Who is Narges Mohammadi?
51-year-old Narges Mohammadi has been a prominent human rights figure in Iran for years.
She is the deputy director of the Defenders of Human Rights Center and currently remains lodged in Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Mohammadi is currently serving a 12-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison for spreading propaganda against the state.
Narges’s husband, Taqi Rahmani, is a political activist living in exile in Paris with their two children. The two have been separated for years.
The Iranian regime has arrested the activist 13 times, convicted her five times, and sentenced her to a total of 31 years in prison, and 154 lashes,” Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen said at the announcement ceremony.
