Iranian Government Must Drop All Charges Against Narges Mohammadi and Allow Her to See Her Children
Following a recent surge of arrests across Iran, including human rights defenders, lawyers, teachers, writers, journalists, scholars, and women’s rights defenders, we are deeply concerned for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, who faces no guarantee of remaining free from another imprisonment. Mohammadi, who has been outside prison on a temporary sentence suspension since December 2024, is banned from leaving the country and having a passport. She still faces 10 additional years of imprisonment when she returns to jail.
Mohammadi has been banned from leaving the country since her arrest in 2009, and her passport has been confiscated ever since. Currently, two separate bans prevent her from traveling and having any travel documents: one because her prison sentences are upheld despite the temporary suspension, and another travel ban imposed arbitrarily by unknown high-level security services
Mohammadi has not seen her twin children since 2015, when they were forced to leave Iran at the age of 8, having one parent imprisoned and the other living in exile since 2012. As they prepare to mark their 19th birthday on 27 November, she still is deprived of celebrating with her children once more due to years of imprisonment and restrictions. On 22 November, lawyers confirmed after a meeting with authorities that she cannot obtain any travel document and is banned from leaving the country by two separate judicial bodies.
The Free Narges Coalition Steering Committee states:
“Iranian authorities must guarantee Narges Mohammadi’s safety, drop all charges against her, return her passport so she can travel freely and embrace her children after years of separation, and immediately cease all forms of harassment, both direct and indirect. We call on the Iranian government to immediately drop all charges against Narges Mohammadi and to ensure her safety and freedom without delay.”
The Nobel laureate has been on a suspension of her prison sentence since December 2024 following surgery in mid-November, in accordance with recommendations from her doctors that she be granted an extended leave in order to recover from the surgery, conduct monitoring of a bone lesion in her leg, and receive specialized cardiac care and treatment for other longstanding conditions which have been exacerbated by her extended periods of incarceration.
Since her temporary release, Mohammadi has been targeted by a state-backed smear campaign pushing for her to be returned to jail – or even sent to a prison outside Tehran with worse living conditions. In late June, she received a series of serious direct and indirect threats to her safety and life from agents affiliated with the Islamic Republic’s Ministry of Intelligence in retaliation for her continuous human rights work, activism, and speaking up. This occurred in the context of the war between Israel and Iran from 13 to 25 June 2025 and a wider crackdown on human rights defenders and dissenting voices.
Narges Mohammadi is a human rights defender, author, journalist, and deputy director and spokesperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre (DHRC) in Iran. Mohammadi has spent more than 10 years of her life in prison, most recently from November 2021 to December 2024, in relation to sentences totalling more than 13 years on charges including committing “propaganda activity against the state” and “collusion against state security.” She is the recipient of numerous international awards for her tireless struggle for human rights, including the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize, the 2023 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, the 2023 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, and the 2022 Reporters Without Borders Prize for Courage.
This statement is issued by the Free Narges Coalition Steering Committee, and does not necessarily reflect the position of all Coalition members. The Steering Committee is led by the Narges Foundation, PEN America, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), and Front Line Defenders.
For more information or to get involved, visit: www.narges.foundation/freenarges. Contact the Steering Committee members: Narges Foundation, [email protected]; Karin Deutsch Karlekar, PEN America, [email protected]; Jonathan Dagher, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), [email protected]; and Front Line Defenders, [email protected].
