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Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian political activist and Nobel Peace laureate, has been arrested in the north-eastern city of Mashhad, after a memorial ceremony for a local lawyer escalated into tension.

Mohammadi was detained while attending a memorial service for Khosrow Alikordi, a lawyer who has represented political dissidents.

Alikordi was found dead at his office last week. His family raised suspicions about what had happened, but officials released CCTV footage showing him moments before he died at his office, saying forensic evidence indicated he had suffered a heart attack.

Hasan Hosseini, Mashhad’s governor, confirmed Mohammadi had been arrested along with several other political activists. He told local media the “temporary detention” had been carried out by order of the prosecutor’s office.

The governor said a number of people had chanted “provocative” slogans outside the mosque where the memorial service was held, adding that several individuals were being “held under protection, mostly for their own safety”.

Mizan news agency, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, reported a police commander and an officer had been stabbed and injured as a group of people engaged in “disorderly and unlawful behaviour” on the sidelines of the event. 

Mizan said security forces intervened, resulting in several participants being arrested, including “individuals with security-related convictions”, an apparent reference to Mohammadi and other activists.

Social media footage purported to show Mohammadi addressing a crowd of people who chanted anti-regime slogans.

Reacting to the laureate’s detention, the Norwegian Nobel Committee called on the authorities to “immediately clarify Mohammadi’s whereabouts, ensure her safety and integrity, and to release her without conditions”.

Reporters without Borders, a member of The Free Narges Coalition, also condemned the “violent arrests” of Mohammadi and other “journalists and human rights defenders”, adding: “They must be liberated at once.”

Mohammadi has been arrested and jailed multiple times on charges that include colluding against national security and spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic. She has amassed jail terms of more than 30 years and has served most of the years since 2009 in prison.

Her sentence was suspended in December 2024 when she was released on medical leave. Since then she has travelled across the country, delivering speeches and giving interviews to foreign media. She has continued her activism despite convictions, campaigning for women’s rights and against executions.

Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2023, becoming the second Iranian woman to win it after Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer, who was honoured in 2003.