OSLO: Iran's women's rights advocate Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organisation led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the first one since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award in 2021 jointly with Russia's Dmitry Muratov.
"This Nobel Prize will embolden Narges' fight for human rights, but more importantly, this is in fact a prize for the 'women, life and freedom' movement," Mohammadi's husband Taghi Rahmani told Reuters at his home in Paris, applauding as he watched the announcement on TV.
Her prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns, or around $1 million, will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
Past winners range from Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela.
Mohammadi was quoted by the New York Times as saying she would never stop striving for democracy and equality, even if that meant staying in prison.
Among a stream of tributes from major global bodies, the UN human rights office said the Nobel award highlighted the bravery of Iranian women. "We've seen their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention," said its spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell .
The son of Mohammadi said on Friday he was proud of his mother who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
"I am very, very proud of my mother, very happy", said 17-year-old Ali Rahmani, who has not seen his mother in eight years, at a news conference also attended by his father and twin sister.
"They've been harassed for what they do or don't wear. There are increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them ... they are an inspiration to the world."
A semi-official Iranian news agency said jailed Mohammadi had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "her actions against Iran's national security".
"Narges Mohammadi received her prize from the Westerners," the Fars news agency reported, adding that she "had made headlines multiple times due to her acts against the national security".
Iranian authorities have yet to comment on the award.
France's President Emmanuel Macron paid tribute on Friday to Narges Mohammadi, after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Macron also saluted Mohammadi's family, some of whom he said live in France.
Here is a list of the 10 most recent winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
2023: Narges Mohammadi (Iran)
2022: Ales Bialiatski (Belarus), Memorial (Russia) and the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine)
2021: Maria Ressa (Philippines/United States) and Dmitry Muratov (Russia)
2020: The UN World Food Programme (WFP)
2019: Abiy Ahmed Ali (Ethiopia)
2018: Denis Mukwege (DR Congo) and Nadia Murad (Iraq)
2017: International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
2016: Juan Manuel Santos (Colombia)
2015: The National Dialogue Quartet (Tunisia)
2014: Kailash Satyarthi (India) and Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan)
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