Narges Mohammadi is imprisoned in one of the world’s most notorious prisons. In the north of Tehran, right up under the mountains that surround the city, is the Evin prison. There sit political prisoners locked up by today’s Islamic regime, just as they did under the previous authoritarian rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. Mohammadi has been sentenced to a long prison term and 154 lashes. She herself announced that she was going back to prison. She has always known what she was risking. She knew this wouldn’t be over anytime soon. In her Nobel speech, she writes her struggle into two tracks, the long Iranian history and the freedom struggle for democracy and women’s equality. It was two 17-year-olds who gave the Nobel speech, two 17-year-olds who have not seen their mother since they were nine years old and who have come to terms with the fact that they may never see their mother again, the twins Kiana and Ali None of them have themselves asked to be a part of this. They haven’t asked for the limelight. Nevertheless, through many interviews with the Norwegian and international press, they have shown themselves to be faces of another Iran, what opportunities exist and, not least, what kind of people the Iranian regime forces into exile. They have been friendly, open, eloquent and have not hidden what it has cost them as a family. Twins Kiana and Ali Rahmani received the peace prize on behalf of their mother in Oslo. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB In Oslo today, they carried their mother’s voice to the world: “Iran, with its ancient and glorious civilization, has always been a symbol of nobility and progress. We are the inheritors of this civilization and its values.” With those words, Mohammadi made himself and all other activists the bearers of Iranian history, and today’s Islamic regime the exception. Today’s rulers are the tyrants, yes she uses the words “religious tyranny” about the Shiite rule. “Tyranny is an endless and boundless evil, its ominous shadow has long been cast over the heads of millions of displaced people.” She has no illusions about what she and her comrades are up against. It is a regime that is not going to give up. It is a regime that has proven very resistant to both internal and external threats. The regime survived a horrific war against neighboring Iraq in the 1980s, has resisted tough Western sanctions and cracked down on large-scale popular protests. In 2009, “The Green Movement” gathered millions of people in the streets. The leaders were arrested or put under house arrest, and the demonstrations died down. Last autumn, the “Woman, life, freedom” demonstrations broke out. Through the award to Mohammadi, attention is directed again at Iran, but the regime remains in power. What makes Mohammadi’s involvement distinctive, especially in the Middle East, is how she links political freedom to equal rights. She calls today’s government “gender apartheid” and says that she is one of many millions of Iranian women who suffer from relentless oppression, and she particularly remembers the nameless women and their lives of resistance. “The realization of democracy requires the realization of human rights.” It is a powerful message in a world marked by war and anti-democratic forces. The Nobel Prize is like a beacon that rhythmically and regularly illuminates the world’s darkest corners, this time a prison cell in Tehran. It was a reminder to us all that freedom and democracy are not free, and that there are people willing to sacrifice everything for these ideals. The Peace Prize was awarded to her children. The winner himself is in Evin prison in Tehran. Photo: NARGES MOHAMMADI FOUNDATION / AFP It is rare that the award winner cannot receive the award themselves, that they are prevented by their own authorities, but it is not the first time that there is an empty chair in Oslo City Hall. Mohammadi is now following in the footsteps of Soviet Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov and Chinese Liu Xiaobo. It also puts Mohammadi’s struggle and commitment in a global perspective. The fight is useful, the fight continues, was the message. The words were smuggled out of a prison and performed by the award winner’s children, children who are both a continuation and a future. You have the bravest of all mothers, said the Norwegian children at the Nobel Peace Center to Kiana and Ali. It can’t be easy to be a child and receive such a tribute to an imprisoned mother. At least today has shown them and all other Iranian activists in Iran or in exile, that they are not alone, their courage and pain was today recognized through the award to Narges Mohammadi. And what about courage: I’m sure her two children are brave too.
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Narges Mohammadi’s Nobel Prize is a powerful reminder to us all – Speech
