A 2021 demonstration calling for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh from an Iranian prison. The lawyer was released later that year on medical grounds but was detained again on 1 April 2026. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenA 2021 demonstration calling for the release of Nasrin Sotoudeh from an Iranian prison. The lawyer was released later that year on medical grounds but was detained again on 1 April 2026. Photograph: Pierre Crom/Getty ImagesAward-winning Iranian human rights lawyer arrested in Tehran, says her daughterActivists accuse Iran’s regime of crackdown on civil society as whereabouts of Nasrin Sotoudeh are unknown
Is Iran using the war to hide a surge in executions?
The prize-winning Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been arrested in Tehran, according to her family, as activists accused the regime of cracking down on civil society under cover of the war with Israel and the US.
Sotoudeh’s daughter Mehraveh Khandan said her mother was taken from her home in Tehran late on Wednesday and that her whereabouts were unknown. Khandan suspected the arrest may be related to recent interviews about the war, in which Sotoudeh criticised the government.
“We do not know which agency carried out the arrest or who was responsible. She was alone at home at the time, and my family only became aware of it today,” Khandan said.
View image in fullscreenSotoudeh was detained in Tehran on Wednesday evening, her daughter said.“As far as we know, in recent days she had not been summoned for interrogation or threatened by security authorities. Her phone, the laptops and all electronic devices had been taken. Everything else in the house remained in place,” said Khandan, 25, who is studying overseas.
The country is under a communications blackout, with internet shutdowns and restrictions on international calls.
Activists have already expressed fears that a rise in executions is taking place in Iran, which is being overshadowed by the war. At least 145 people are confirmed to have been killed in 2026 so far, with an additional 400-plus executions reported but not verified, according to Iran Human Rights.
Sotoudeh has represented many political prisoners, including opposition activists and women prosecuted for removing their mandatory headscarf, and has won awards including the 2012 Sakharov prize of the European parliament and the 2020 Right Livelihood award.
She has been arrested and imprisoned repeatedly for her work over the past two decades, but was released in 2021 on medical grounds. Khandan said she was worried about her mother’s health in case she was imprisoned again.
“After my mother went on hunger strike in prison; doctors discovered that she has a heart condition that worsens under severe stress, causing shortness of breath and sometimes chest pain. Doctors had said she should not be exposed to psychological pressure, and it was on this basis that she had been granted medical leave, as her condition deteriorated in prison,” she said.
Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, has also been held in prison since December 2024, after first being arrested in 2019 for producing and distributing badges bearing the slogan “I oppose compulsory hijab [mandatory dress code for women]”.
Agence France-Press contributed to this report
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