New York: The Nobel Committee’s decision to award the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi underscores the “courage and determination” of the women of Iran, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday.

“I think what is absolutely clear is that the women of Iran have been a source of inspiration for the world. We’ve seen their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention," Spokesperson Liz Throssell told journalists in Geneva.

"This courage, this determination, have been remarkable. They’ve been harassed for what they do or don’t wear, there are increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them.”

Ms. Mohammadi is currently serving a 16-year sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison. She has worked for many years as a journalist and is also an author and Vice-Director of the Tehran-based civil society organization Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC).

In May she was awarded a prize that celebrates press freedom by the UN educational, social and cultural organization (UNESCO), along with two other imprisoned Iranian women journalists, in the context of the wave of protests surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022.