The son and daughter of Iranian prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi fear that they may never see their mother again, but they expressed pride in her struggle for women's rights as they prepare to accept the award on her behalf tomorrow, Sunday. Narges, 51, was awarded the prize on October 6, which served as a rebuke to Tehran’s leaders and drew condemnation from the Islamic Republic. She has been sentenced multiple times and is currently serving her sentence in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran after being convicted on charges including spreading propaganda against the state.
Her twins, 17-year-old Ali and Kiana Rahmani, who live in exile in Paris, are scheduled to receive the award at Oslo City Hall and will deliver a speech on her behalf upon receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. In a message smuggled from prison and aired by Swedish television days ago, Narges stated that she will continue to fight for human rights even if it leads to her death. However, she added that her son and daughter are what she misses the most.
Kiana, who last saw her mother eight years ago, said, "When it comes to seeing her again, I am personally very pessimistic." She added during a press conference through an interpreter, "I might see her in 30 or 40 years, but I don't think I will see her again... That doesn’t matter because my mother will always live in my heart."
Narges received the peace prize just over a year after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran's morality police after being detained for wearing inappropriate clothing. Amini's death sparked nationwide protests that lasted for months, posing the largest challenge to the rule of the Shia clergy in years, met with a bloody security crackdown that left hundreds dead.
Ali, Narges’s son, stated that he accepted from a young age that the family would live apart, but he added that he remains hopeful he might see her again. He said, "If we don’t see her again, we will always be proud of her, and we will continue our struggle."
Taqi Rahmani, Narges's husband, said that the award will give her a louder voice even if her conditions of detention become more difficult. Rahmani, who will attend the ceremony on Sunday, added, "It is a political prize, and thus there will be more pressure on Narges, but at the same time, it will create space for the voices of the people to be heard."
Narges is the nineteenth woman to win the prize, which currently has a value of 11 million Swedish kronor, or about one million dollars, and she is the fifth recipient to win the award while serving a prison sentence. The prize is awarded on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor who established the award in his will in 1895.
