In 2023, while she was imprisoned, the Nobel Committee awarded her the Peace Prize, noting “her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
In recent weeks, as the world has focused on the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, the authorities in Iran have intensified crackdowns on dissent. Every few days, reports have emerged of arrests of student activists and journalists. Iran has executed 22 people in the past six weeks, some were protesters in anti-government demonstrations that swept the country in January, and dozens more are at risk of execution, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
On Thursday, Sasan Azadvar Junaqani, a 21 year old from Isfahan, a central city in Iran, was executed, according to media reports and rights groups. He was arrested in January for participating in nationwide protests and accused of throwing a stone at security agents, according to Iran’s judiciary reports. Mr. Junaqani, a karate athlete who participated in tournaments, was charged with “moharebe,” or being “the enemy of God,” in a speedy sham trial, according to HRANA, an Iran-focused human rights group in Washington D.C., and media reports.
Omid Memarian, a senior fellow and an Iran expert at Dawn, a Washington D.C. think tank focused on U.S. foreign policy, said the treatment of Ms. Mohammadi and the recent executions were all part of a wider campaign of intimidation.
“The wartime security environment has significantly increased the risks of activism in Iran, giving the government a broader pretext to use violence and making the level of repression, outside peak protest moments, considerably harsher than before the war,” said Mr. Memarian.
