The European Union on Tuesday urged Iranian authorities to release “human rights defenders,” including 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi.

In a statement signed by EU High Representative Kaya Kallas, the bloc expressed “grave concern” over the mass detentions carried out by Iranian authorities “to silence critical voices.”

“We call on the Iranian authorities to release all those unjustly detained for exercising their fundamental rights, including freedoms of expression and assembly,” the statement said.

This includes Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, whose health remains fragile, as well as other human rights defenders arrested on December 12 in Mashhad.

“Human rights defenders must be able to make their voices heard and carry out their legitimate work without their freedom being compromised, in Iran as elsewhere,” the EU added.

Mohammadi and around 40 other activists were detained on December 12 following a memorial for a deceased lawyer and human rights advocate in Mashhad (northeast Iran), after reportedly chanting slogans critical of the Islamic Republic’s clerical regime.

Narges Mohammadi, 53, has faced repeated imprisonment since her university days for publishing articles supporting women’s rights. She was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her “fight against the oppression of women” in Iran.