The Free Narges Coalition Steering Committee, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), issued a joint alert on Thursday, warning of escalating threats against imprisoned Iranian journalist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi. These threats, apparently originating from actors affiliated with the Iranian government, aim to further intimidate Mohammadi and her family, intensifying international concern for her safety and the worsening crackdown on press freedom in Iran.
According to RSF, state-linked accounts have circulated explicit calls for violence against Mohammadi and her children on social media platforms. RSF denounced the Iranian authorities’ complicity in fostering a climate of intimidation, which it says is being used to silence dissent both within and outside the country’s borders. The Free Narges Coalition, comprising Nobel laureates, press freedom groups, and human rights organizations, said these tactics mirror a broader transnational strategy of repression by the Islamic Republic.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awarded Mohammadi the Peace Prize in 2023 for her fight against the oppression of women and her advocacy for human rights in Iran, has publicly expressed its concern over these threats. The committee, in a press release, noted that Mohammadi, currently serving multiple sentences in Tehran’s Evin Prison, has been “directly and indirectly threatened with ‘physical elimination’ by agents of the regime.”
Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said: “The Norwegian Nobel Committee is deeply concerned about the threats against Narges Mohammadi and, more broadly, all Iranian citizens with a critical voice, and call upon the authorities to safeguard not only their lives, but also their freedom of expression.”
Amnesty International’s 2024 report on Iran underscored the country’s continued suppression of press freedom and persecution of journalists. Iranian authorities have used arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials to silence independent reporting. The state heavily restricts access to independent media, censors digital platforms, and criminalizes dissent under vague national security charges.
Iran remains one of the world’s top jailers of journalists and ranks 177 out of 180 in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index. The United Nations Human Rights Council has previously raised alarms over Mohammadi’s repeated arrests, mistreatment in custody, and denial of medical care. In a 2023 statement, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran described her imprisonment as arbitrary and urged her immediate release. The Free Narges Coalition reiterated that the world must not look away as one of its most courageous voices faces targeted harassment from a repressive regime.
