Iran extends Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi's prison sentence by seven years

Supporters of Narges Mohammadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023, said she had been on hunger strike since 2 February.

Iran has sentenced Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to more than seven additional years in prison after she began a hunger strike, supporters of hers said on Sunday.Mohammadi’s supporters cited her lawyer, who spoke to Mohammadi. The lawyer, Mostafa Nili, confirmed the sentence on X, saying it had been handed down Saturday by a Revolutionary Court in the city of Mashhad.The Nobel laureate had previously been sentenced to nearly 14-years in prison on other charges. Iranian authorities did not immediately acknowledge the more recent sentence.“She has been sentenced to six years in prison for ‘gathering and collusion’ and one and a half years for propaganda and two-year travel ban,” Nili said. She received another two years of internal exile to the city of Khosf, some 740 kilometers (460 miles) southeast of Tehran, the capital, the lawyer added.Supporters say Mohammadi has been on a hunger strike since 2 February. She had been arrested in December at a ceremony honoring Khosrow Alikordi, a 46-year-old Iranian lawyer and human rights advocate who had been based in Mashhad. Footage from the demonstration showed her shouting, demanding justice for Alikordi and others.The new convictions against Mohammadi come as Iran tries to negotiate with the United States over its nuclear program to avert a threatened military strike by President Donald Trump. Iran's top diplomat insisted Sunday that Tehran's strength came from its ability to “say no to the great powers," striking a maximalist position just after negotiations in Oman with the US.Concerns over Mohammadi's healthMohammadi's supporters had warned for months before her arrest in December that she was at risk of being sent back to prison after having received a furlough in December 2024 over medical concerns.While that was to be only three weeks, Mohammadi’s time out of prison lengthened, possibly as activists and Western powers pushed Iran to keep her free.Mohammadi still kept up her activism with public protests and international media appearances, including even demonstrating at one point in front of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, where she had been held.She had been serving 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran’s government. She also had backed the nationwide protests sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, which have seen women openly defy the government by not wearing the hijab.Mohammadi suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her supporters say. Her lawyer in late 2024 revealed doctors had found a bone lesion that they feared could be cancerous that later was removed.Iranian foreign minister strikes hard-line toneSpeaking to diplomats at a summit in Tehran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi signalled that Iran would stick to its position that it must be able to enrich uranium - a major point of contention with US President Donald Trump.“I believe the secret of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s power lies in its ability to stand against bullying, domination and pressures from others," Araghchi said. "They fear our atomic bomb, while we are not pursuing an atomic bomb. Our atomic bomb is the power to say no to the great powers. The secret of the Islamic Republic’s power is in the power to say no to the powers.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington this week, with Iran expected to be the major subject of discussion.The US has moved the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, ships and warplanes to the Middle East to pressure Iran into an agreement and have the firepower necessary to strike the country, should Trump choose to do so.