By Stephen Simon

More than 110 Nobel laureates have issued an urgent, collective plea for the immediate and unconditional release of Narges Mohammadi—the imprisoned Iranian human rights defender and Nobel Peace Prize recipient—after she was rushed to a Tehran hospital with her health in rapid, terrifying decline.

In a statement released today, the laureates implored both Iranian authorities and the wider international community to act “without delay” to secure Mohammadi’s freedom and guarantee her continued access to life-saving medical care.

Notably absent from the list of signatories is Nigeria’s first Nobel laureate in Literature, Wole Soyinka, who won the prize in 1986. A source close to him suggested he felt no obligation to join the appeal.

A search of the nobelwomen’sinitiative.org website reveals the full roster of laureates who signed the demand. Among the 112 signatories, only four are from the field of Literature: J. M. Coetzee (2003), Elfriede Jelinek (2004), Herta Muller (2009), and Orhan Pamuk (2006). The broader list includes 26 laureates in Chemistry, 12 in Economics, 29 in Medicine, 11 Peace laureates, and 29 in Physics—along with renowned authors Annie Ernaux and Coetzee.

Mohammadi, awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her decades-long fight for women’s rights in Iran, was transferred by ambulance in critical condition to Tehran’s Pars hospital on May 10 for specialised treatment. Her representatives say she has suffered alarming weight loss, unstable blood pressure, and serious cardiac symptoms while in detention. She was found unconscious in her cell after what is believed to have been a heart attack.

But the move to hospital, they warn, is only a temporary reprieve. If her condition stabilises, she is expected to be sent back to prison.

“Medical experts warn that her life may be at imminent risk,” the laureates said in their joint statement, noting that she had been denied proper medical care for months behind bars.

Jody Williams, the American anti-landmine activist who won the Peace Prize in 1997, said Mohammadi “should never have been brought to the brink of death.” She added: “No one, anywhere, should be imprisoned for peaceful protest or for defending human rights.”

Tawakkol Karman, the Yemeni journalist and 2011 Nobel Peace laureate, called Mohammadi “the fearless voice of women resisting oppression and demanding freedom.” She continued: “No prison can silence the struggle for dignity and justice. Narges must be released, and the world must continue to stand with the women of Iran.”

From Paris, Mohammadi’s son, Ali Rahmani, spoke with raw emotion: “The temporary suspension of my mother’s sentence is simply not enough. After years of imprisonment, solitary confinement and systematic medical neglect, her life still hangs by a thread. We do not just want her out of a cell for a few days; we demand a permanent end to this judicial persecution. My mom requires unconditional freedom and long-term, specialised care—without the shadow of a return to the environment that nearly killed her.”

Mohammadi has been detained repeatedly by Iranian authorities since her first arrest in 1998, including for her campaigns against the death penalty and Iran’s mandatory hijab laws. She has now been sentenced to more than 44 years in prison and 154 lashes across multiple convictions.