Nobel laureate Mohammadi ends hunger strike

Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and women's rights activist currently detained in Iran's notorious Evin Prison, has ended her hunger strike that began on November 6. The strike was prompted by the enforcement of the headscarf requirement each time she was taken to the hospital for medical care.

Mohammadi's family shared that the hunger strike ended following her hospitalization without the mandatory headscarf. "On Wednesday, I was transferred from prison to hospital without wearing the mandatory veil," Mohammadi stated in a message broadcasted on social media platforms. Her act of defiance comes amidst heightened tensions in Iran over women's rights and the mandatory hijab law.

In a show of solidarity, friends and family who attempted to visit Mohammadi during her hospital transfer were temporarily detained by authorities, with their personal belongings, including cell phones, confiscated. They were released shortly after.

Having been arrested 13 times, sentenced to a cumulative 31 years behind bars, and subjected to 154 lashes, Nargis Mohammadi remains a resilient figure in the "Jin, jiyan, azadi" (Women, Life, Freedom) uprising in Iran and East Kurdistan. Her ongoing imprisonment since 2021 has not deterred her activism.

The Nobel Committee recognized Mohammadi on October 6 with the esteemed peace prize for her "struggle against the oppression of women in Iran and her efforts to promote human rights and freedom for all." Her recent hunger strike and the subsequent concession by the prison authorities are seen as a significant, albeit small, victory in the broader fight for women's rights in the region.