Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ends Hunger Strike After Hospital Visit

Iranian prison authorities have finally bowed to pressure to send Narges Mohammadi to hospital without her mandatory hijab after several days of hunger strike.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate had required medical attention outside Evin Prison but was barred from heart and lung treatment for refusing to wear the Islamic headscarf.

Her family announced the hunger strike on Monday as the rights activist stood firm in her objection to the compulsory hijab, a symbol at the heart of nationwide protests since last year. By Thursday, after mounting international pressure, prison officials eventually transported her to the hospital.

In a statement on her Instagram account, the 51-year-old announced that her resistance has finally paid off, able to go to the hospital "without a headscarf and in a business suit".

Mohammadi, declared as the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2023, is one of the most prominent advocates for women's rights globally. She has repeatedly voiced her opposition to mandatory hijab and has spent her life in and out of Iranian jails fighting for justice.

The Instagram account of Golrokh Iraee, a political prisoner in Evin, also mentioned that Mohammadi and her fellow protesters, who had initiated a hunger strike in protest against the policy of "either death or mandatory hijab" and the prevention of Mohammadi's hospitalization, have broken their strike after medical attention was provided to Mohammadi.

Iraee emphasized in her post, "Nasrin's refusal to wear the mandatory headscarf is a step towards overthrowing the hijab. The compulsion has led to the humiliation, suppression, and torture of Iranian women for more than four decades and has resulted in the deaths of many, including Mahsa Amini and Armita Geravand.”