Narges Mohammadi's Letter to Swedish Parliament Representatives; The People of Iran Have Rise Up for a Major, Purposeful, and Fundamental Change

Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian political activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner 2023, wrote a letter from Evin Prison to the representatives of the Swedish Parliament: "The people of Iran, based on historical awareness and the course and experience of struggle, have risen up with the will to create a major, fundamental, and purposeful change." This political prisoner held in Evin Prison continued in her letter: "The powerful movement of women, life, freedom is the manifestation of this national will in the continuation of social protest movements, and I stand alongside the people of Iran and will continue to fight until the day of victory, hoping and expecting that the world will accept this reality and stand with the people of Iran to transition from religious tyranny and provide support and action." Narges Mohammadi also noted: "The authoritarian government of Iran uses democratic institutions and mechanisms such as the parliament, elections, press, judiciary, and even civil society organizations to deceive domestic and international public opinion, but in reality, it has emptied them of democratic content and function. The regime's approach to holding elections is not to invigorate democracy and comply with the people's vote, but to exert power, directly intervene, and manipulate the votes and opinions of the people, minimizing public participation to the lowest possible level, so that in the last presidential election, less than 7% of the capital's population participated in the elections." The Nobel Peace Prize winner described the approach and policies of the Islamic Republic as a blatant and ongoing violation of human rights in Iran and a threat to peace in the world, stating: "The Islamic Republic's authority, even relying on the mafia of power and wealth, exploits the environment for its own benefit, disregarding the interests of all. In fact, just as the authority has destroyed our present through repression, imprisonment, torture, execution, and stifling freedom of expression and the press, it threatens the future of the children of this land and the region and the world by destroying the environment, and in continuing the repression of civil society and activists of people's organizations, it has now added the repression of environmental activists to its list." She also wrote: "Governments that arise from the people's vote are accountable to the people's demands and are concerned with preserving national interests, but this is not the case for the institutions and officials elected in the Islamic Republic because they are not the true representatives and elected officials of the people of Iran; therefore, the people of Iran have risen up for a major, fundamental, and purposeful change, and I will continue to fight alongside the people of Iran until the day of victory." Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist, symbolically received the Nobel Peace Prize 2023 on Sunday, December 10, in Oslo, Norway. Ms. Mohammadi, who is imprisoned in Evin for opposing the Islamic Republic, was not allowed to attend the ceremony, and her children, Ali and Kiana Rahmani, received the award on her behalf. Alfred Nobel, a Swedish industrialist and inventor and the founder of the Nobel Prizes, stipulated that the Peace Prize be awarded to someone who has made the greatest efforts for peace. Narges Mohammadi is the second Iranian woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the first being Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer and human rights activist, who received it twenty years ago in 2003.