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President Biden and first lady Jill Biden attend the dignified transfer of the remains of three U.S. service members killed in a drone attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Friday. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden attend the dignified transfer of the remains of three U.S. service members killed in a drone attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Friday.

The U.S. military has mounted a series of air and missile strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria, NPR has confirmed, in retaliation for a suicide drone strike that killed three American soldiers on Sunday at a remote base in Jordan.

The airstrikes, which used more than 125 precision munitions, came at 4 p.m. ET Friday and struck more than 85 targets, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

"The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces," CENTCOM said, referring to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told reporters Friday that in all seven facilities used by IRGC and its proxies were hit three in Iraq and four in Syria. The strikes, he said, occurred over 30 minutes. The Iraqi government was informed beforehand, he said.

The targets were chosen to avoid civilian casualties, he said.

The U.S. strikes are far more extensive and deadly than those that have been launched since last October, when the Israeli-Gaza war began and pro-Iranian groups like the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq started an uptick of attacks.

That's because the Jan. 28 attacks on a U.S. support base in Jordan was the highest death toll of troops in the Middle East in at least a decade. Three Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia were killed when an attack drone slammed into their sleeping quarters. Another three dozen were wounded, a handful seriously. President Biden traveled Friday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the bodies of the three soldiers returned in flag-draped silver cases.

In a statement after the strikes, Biden said: "Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing. The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond."

The U.S. attacks were telegraphed for days. Biden told reporters outside the White House earlier this week he had decided on a response. And lawmakers were told by senior administration officials that the president wanted military options "a level or two up" from the "whack-a-mole strikes we had been doing on (militia) storage and launch sites."

National Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the initial American strikes were likely just the beginning.

"It's very possible you will see a tiered approach here," Kirby said, "not just a single action, but potentially multiple actions over a period of time."

Republican lawmakers have pressed Biden to strike Iran itself because it has trained and supported the militia groups that have targeted American troops, while Democrats and Biden himself have been more reluctant about targeting Iran and widening the Israeli-Gaza war into a regional conflict.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis wrote in Bloomberg that the deaths of the three American soldiers required Biden to respond with a "new level of force." That should include "continuous strikes against proxy targets in Syria and Yemen," while working with Iraq "to expand strikes to their country."

Stavridis also said the U.S. should be "prepping for a significant cyber attack" on Iran, including severing its ties to its proxy forces, penetrating its oil and gas infrastructure and reducing its armament production.

Brad Bowman, a Middle East analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said it was essential for the U.S. to "hit back hard to restore tattered American deterrence." But he worried whether the U.S. troops in the region had enough defenses to "prepare for the inevitable counterpunch that will come after U.S. airstrikes." Pentagon officials have been reluctant to talk openly about the possibility of any increased American defenses in the region.

Charles Lister, an analyst at the Middle East Institute, said it appeared the Biden administration was moving from strikes to deter Iranian-backed militias and Iranian units themselves to efforts that would degrade their power. It all seems like a "campaign," he said, rather than a "single round of strikes."

Lister said that beyond the Iranian-backed militias, there are "plenty of target options" including bases in Syria where the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is located to Iranian naval assets, such as the MV Behshad, an Iranian cargo ship suspected of being a spy platform helping Houthi militants target shipping in the Red Sea.

"But that'd feed into the 'regional war' language that the Biden administration remains keen to avoid," Lister said.

The Iranian-backed militias have mounted more than 165 drone, missile and rocket attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since last fall. Most led to minor injuries, though one service member took some shrapnel to the head and was sent back to the U.S. for further treatment.

The U.S. has repeatedly hit targets in Syria and Iraq, though the militias continue to strike at American targets part of Iran's strategy of pushing the U.S. out of the region.

Last October, the U.S. responded with airstrikes by bombing weapons and storage facilities in Syria with F-16 jets.

A few weeks later, the U.S. hit more targets in Syria, including those used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its allies. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, nine workers in the facilities were killed in the strikes.

On Nov. 21, 2023, U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship retaliated against the Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah, striking a vehicle near Abu Ghraib, Iraq, in response to an attack the day before. U.S. forces at al Asad Airbase west of Baghdad. According to U.S. assessments, several Iran-backed fighters were killed in the strike. The next day, U.S. fighter jets conducted airstrikes on Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah facilities, killing over eight fighters.

And there were two strikes in December by the U.S. in Iraq, hitting militants near Kirkuk, and killing five as they attempted to fire on U.S. forces. Another one hit a militia base in Hillah, killing one militant and wounding 20 others.

The so-called "axis of resistance" is a network of Iran proxy groups across the region. It includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, a coalition of militias in Iraq that go by the name the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, Ansar Allah Houthi forces in Yemen and Iran-linked groups in eastern Syria.

Kataib Hezbollah (which means Party of God Brigades) is not a subsidiary of the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, but both have close links to Iran. KH is considered the most powerful of the Iran-backed militias in the Iraq-based resistance, which has claimed about 160 attacks on U.S. forces since the beginning of the Gaza war.

It was one of the many Shiite militias that fought ISIS starting in 2014 and along with others, was incorporated into Iraq's official security forces in 2019. Before the Gaza war, the group was known for attacks on the U.S. military which it considers to be occupying forces in Iraq, including using roadside bombs manufactured in Iran.

The U.S. killed the founder of KH, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in the same drone strike four years ago in Baghdad that killed Iranian general Quassem Soleimani. Muhandis was also a senior Iraqi government security official and that killing dramatically raised tension in Iraq with U.S. forces.

On Jan. 24, the U.S. struck three bases of Kataib Hezbollah in retaliation for strikes that included an attack on the Ain al-Asad base in Western al-Anbar. U.S. officials have said that the attack on a remote U.S. base in Jordan that killed three service members last week had the fingerprints of KH.

Iran does not exert complete command over the proxies and most, like Lebanon's Hezbollah, have their own domestic agendas.

U.S. troops left Iraq in 2011 but returned in 2014 to fight ISIS alongside Iraqi forces. And now there are 2,550 not in combat, but assisting Iraqis in going after the remnants of ISIS. Now, many of the U.S. troops are stationed in northern Iraq in Erbil, and those troops also support the anti-ISIS fight next door in Syria.

The U.S. also provides hundreds of millions of dollars to Iraq in aid, government development, humanitarian assistance, demining efforts and military sales --more than $16 billion, covering everything from F-16 aircraft to helicopters and radar and small arms. In addition, the U.S. has provided Iraq with excess defense equipment over the recent years 300 large armored vehicles, Humvees, helicopters, body armor all of which contributed to the ISIS fight.

Still, the U.S. airstrikes have created a political problem for the Iraqi government, some of whose parliamentarians have ties to Iran and want to see U.S. forces withdraw from the country. And the latest strikes will certainly add to that headache.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came to power because Iran, and the militias it supports, backed him. So in between anger over the U.S. role in supplying Israel with weapons for the war in Gaza, and anger over U.S. breaches of Iraqi sovereignty, he faces intense pressure about the future of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Now the U.S. and Iraq are talking about an "evolving" mission for U.S. troops, and there seems to be a disconnect.

An adviser to the Iraqi prime minister said the aim is to come up with what he called a specific and clear timetable for the gradual reduction of the U.S.-led coalition troops in Iraq and to an end to the U.S.-led anti-ISIS mission. The government spokesman, Bassem al-Awadi, told Iraqi state TV viewers that Sudani had repeatedly made clear that Iraq's stability required ending the U.S. military presence in Iraq.

"He literally said that ending the mission of the international coalition in Iraq is necessary for Iraq," said al-Awadi. "He used the term necessity. And I assure you that when the prime minister uses a term, he means it."

That's not how the U.S. sees it. In a background call recently senior Pentagon and State Department officials said the talks are not about a withdrawal of U.S. troops. They said it's about shaping the future of the U.S. military presence. That presence will be determined, they say, by the strength of ISIS and the capability of Iraqi forces.

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U.S. hits Iranian proxies in Iraq, Syria in retaliation for deadly strikes - NPR

AL RAYYAN, Doha -- The pre-tournament favourites, Japan are out of the Asian Cup -- defeated 2-1 by Iran at the Education City Stadium on Saturday afternoon. And there can be no complaints from fans of the Samurai Blue.

They were comprehensively outplayed by the best team they've played all tournament; Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu unable to find an answer for the furious buzzsaw that was Iran as they stormed back from a goal down and sent his much-hyped side packing thanks to a 55th-minute strike from Mohammad Mohebi and a 96th-minute penalty from Alireza Jahanbakhsh.

There was a sense -- one now proved false -- throughout their Asian Cup campaign that we were waiting for the real Japan to arrive. That, eventually, the heavyweights would find their footing and blow the rest of the competition away. Until then, they could ride their luck and sheer talent to wins, not looking convincing and not keeping clean sheets, but doing enough.

- Asian Cup: Home | Bracket | Team guide - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

But now that luck has now run out, Hidemasa Morita's 28th-minute goal seemingly shaking the last drops of fortune from the vial they had drunk from throughout their time in Doha.

The Sporting CP midfielder had fate twice smile upon him as his pivotal 28th-minute goal developed at the Education City but such was the intent to which he burst forward to create it, even if these strokes of luck were paired with a decided sense that the goal was very much a deserved one.

Continuing to sprint forward after playing the ball to the feet of a dropping Ayase Ueda, who in his third-straight start appears to have become coach Hajime Moriyasu's designated striker, Morita left Saeid Ezatolahi in his wake as he darted into position to receive his teammate's layoff.

His wayward control may have bounced off Shoja' Khalilzadeh, who had peeled off the back of Ueda to contest, but the bounce still sat up for him to -- magnificently -- take Khalilzadeh, Hossein Kanaanizadegan and Omid Ebrahimi out of the play by dragging the ball back centrally.

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What followed was a shot from the top of the box that Alireza Beiranvand was able to get his sizable foot to, only for it to ricochet off in the other direction and nestle in the back of the net for a Japanese lead; Morita shaking off the rather less intense impediment of Ritsu Doan and Takefusa Kubo as he ran to the corner flag to celebrate his first international goal in over two years, and first against an opponent of the magnitude of Iran.

But yet again, Japan couldn't take a hold of their advantage and close the game out without making things hard on themselves. For the fifth straight game, their defences were breached. And when the goal finally came, no fair-minded analysis would have declared that it didn't feel like it hadn't been coming.

Jahanbakhsh and Ezatolahi had already flashed danger signs before Morita opened the scoring and now Team Melli was coming forward with a renewed sense of purpose, having conceded with the only shot on target that Japan had been able to muster to that point.

Saman Ghoddos had the ball drop for him as he lost his marker and turned to face goal only for his half-volleyed effort to fail to find the target and Roma's Sardar Azmoun then couldn't stretch his leg out high enough to turn in a cross from Ghoddos at the back post.

Ten minutes into the second stanza, though, Iran had their much-deserved equaliser when an attempted long ball forward was seized upon and sent straight back from whence it came -- Azmoun losing Takehiro Tomiyasu on the turn and playing a surgical pass into the path of Mohebi for the finishing touch.

At times, Japan's best defender ended up being the assistant's flag, as several promising Iranian attacks were foiled for inch-line offsides, none more notable than a goal-of-the-tournament contender by Azmoun being ruled out for his armpit being in an offside position as the ball that sprung him forward was played over the top.

Daizen Maeda played Morita into the box for a rare promising move forward by Japan in the 66th minute only for the goalscorer to fail to pull the trigger before he was swarmed and the shot heavily contested. Appeals for a penalty were made, looking for a handball in the build-up, but nothing was forthcoming. That was only Japan's second shot on target for the game and their last.

And Iran kept coming.

They would end the game with 17 shots to eight, four on target to two, and an expected goals (xG) of 1.73 to 0.79, per Opta.

Mohebi headed into the side netting in the 61st minute and Azmoun forced Zion Suzuki into a spectacular save moments later (albeit, guess what, the flag was up again). Azmoun couldn't find the target with a shot in the 73rd before Iranian appeals for a penalty for handball against Morita were waved away in the 80th.

Ezatolahi tried a spectacular-looking volley from the top of the box in the 84th only to send it straight at Suzuki and Jahanbakhsh blazed wide seconds before four minutes of added time were called for.

Then what felt like an inevitability occurred. Iran came again, and Japan's suspect defence asked to yet again answer a question.

This time, they folded in rather fitting fashion -- the makers of their own demise. With the ball in the air, Ko Itakura and Tomiyasu got in each other's way as they attempted to collect. As it fell to the ground, Itakura hacked out at it in an attempt to clear it, only to find the legs of Kanaanizadegan as he did.

Up stepped Jahanbakhsh to hit one of the sweetest penalties you will ever see.

What went wrong for Japan will inevitably be the subject of a major inquisition back home.

The saga surrounding Junya Ito's exit from the team had to have played some role in distracting the squad but that still can't completely account for a side that had been forced to go to penalties just days ago -- hours after Japan cruised to a 3-1 win over Bahrain -- being able to so thoroughly finish over the top of them.

Meanwhile, Iran is moving on, revenge for their 2019 semifinal loss to Japan gleaned and now with a chance to compete for a fourth continental crown, but the first since 1976, if they can defeat the winner of Qatar and Uzbekistan's quarterfinal at the Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday evening.

They'll get striker Mehdi Taremi back for that game and, just maybe, having beat 'the man' in Asia in Al Rayyan, must now be considered favourites for it all.

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Japan finally run out of luck as Asian Cup favourites fall to Iran in quarterfinals - ESPN

U.S. Air Force F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters that deployed to the Middle East to deter Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf and push back against Russian bullying in the skies over Syria have left the region, according to service officials.

What the F-35s did is they gave us additional capacity, Air Forces Central (AFCENT) commander Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich told reporters Oct. 4 at a Defense Writers Group event.

The deployment wrapped up in late September, according to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. All the aircraft have left the Middle East and are in transit home, according to a spokesperson for the 388th Fighter Wing.

Operating as the 421st Air Expeditionary Squadron, the F-35s first deployed July 26, when the fifth-generation fighters were rushed to the region by the Pentagon after Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic chokepoint between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman through which 20 percent of the worlds oil flows.

Additional U.S. Navy vessels, led by the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group with thousands of Marines, followed the F-35s. The USS Bataan amphibious assault ship brought more airpower into the region with a squadron of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) Harriers.

The U.S. still has F-16s and A-10s in the region. However, the stealthy F-35 provided more advanced capabilities.

The F-35s allowed the U.S. to continue doing the missions we were doing up in Iraq and Syria and elsewhere in the region, and increase what we were doing in support of the Navy doing basically combat air patrols over the Straits of Hormuz, said Grynkewich, who added the Navy deployment was particularly important.

That increase in surface vessels combined with our airpower has deterred Iran from taking any actions against maritime shipping, he said.

In addition to their mission in the Gulf, the F-35s were helpful in discouraging Russian warplanes from harassing American aircraft over Syria. The F-35s also integrated with U.S. allies over Syria, including flying with French Rafael fighters.

Russias aggressive tactics emerged as a major concern in July when Russian fighters dropped flares that damaged U.S. MQ-9 drones carrying out missions against Islamic State militants.

After the U.S. released video of the Russian harassment and deployed the F-35s,Russia has moderated its tactics and has become less aggressive.

They still fly in the airspace, but not directly overhead of our forces, so I welcome that shift in behavior, Grynkewich said. The flares being dropped on our MQ-9s, we dont see that behavior anymore.

The U.S. military footprint in the region is very modest compared to the years in which Americans were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. But U.S. air operations over Syria have also been bolstered by coalition partners, including the French and British.

We are still under danger of terrorist attack in our capitals or in our land, Gen. Stphane Mille, Chief of the French Air and Space Force, told reporters in September. We are flying together.

Not all of the challenges the U.S. has faced come from adversaries. Americas fellow NATO member Turkey has been pummeling Kurdish groups in northern Syria it blames for a bombing in the capital of Ankara on Oct. 1, in operations that could put American troops at risk.

On the morning of Oct. 5, a Turkish drone struck targets inside a U.S. military-declared restricting operating zone (ROZ), according to the Pentagon. Strikes got within one kilometer of U.S. forces, forcing them to take cover in bunkers.

When a Turkish drone returned to the area roughly four hours later and headed towards U.S. forces, it was shot down by a U.S. F-16 within half a kilometer of U.S. personnel in an act of self-defense, according to U.S. officials.

On Oct. 6, the Turkish foreign ministry downplayed the episode in a statement, saying its drone was lost due to different technical assessments in the deconfliction mechanism with third parties.

The bigger worry, however, remains Iran. Despite the departure of the F-35s, which Grynkewich noted was always planned to be temporary, the U.S. is prepared to flex forces to the region.

My view is that deterrence is temporal, Grynkewich said of Iran. Weve surged forces in response to a specific threat. That shows American commitment to the region. It shows that our American strategy has been, with our posture being less than once was, weve shown a commitment to bring forces in for either major exercises for assurance purposes or when a threat required it. And we certainly did that in this case.

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F-35s Leave Middle East After Deployment to Deter Iran and Russia - Air & Space Forces Magazine

I join with people around the world in congratulating Narges Mohammadi on being awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize and in celebrating her unshakable courage. Ms. Mohammadis commitment to building the future that women and all people in Iran deserve is an inspiration to people everywhere who are fighting for human rights and basic human dignity. She has endured repeated arrests, persecution, and torture at the hands of the Iranian regime, yet Ms. Mohammadis advocacy and determination has only grown stronger. This award is a recognition that, even as she is currently and unjustly held in Evin prison, the world still hears the clarion voice of Narges Mohammadi calling for freedom and equality. I urge the government in Iran to immediately release her and her fellow gender equality advocates from captivity.

Sadly, Ms. Mohammadis award comes the same week that horrifying reports have emerged about Irans so-called morality police assaulting 16-year-old Armita Geravand for not wearing a headscarf. The people of Iran refuse to be silenced or intimidated as they fight for a free and democratic future for their nation, and their peaceful movement Woman, Life, Freedomdemanding respect for their human rights has brought hope to people the world. We will continue to honor the bravery of all human rights defenders as well as the memory of Mahsa Amini and all those who have been killed, wounded, or imprisoned by the regime. The United States will continue working to support Iranians ability to advocate for their own future, for freedom of expression, for gender equality, and to end gender-based violence against women and girls everywhere.

As part of these efforts, the United States is continuing to lead a diplomatic initiative at the United Nations to highlight, condemn, and promote accountability for Irans abuses. Weve also deployed anti-censorship tools to make it easier for tens of millions of Iranians to access the internet and sanctioned more than 100 Iranian individuals and entities responsible for supporting the regimes oppression of its people.

The United States will continue to stand with Ms. Mohammadi, with the brave people of Iran, and with all those around the world who are working with resilience and resolve to make our world more equal and more free.

###

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Statement from President Joe Biden on Iranian Activist Narges ... - The White House

Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian womens rights and anti-death penalty advocate currently incarcerated in one of Irans most notorious prisons, has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize.

Mohammadis win comes after a year of protest in the country following the murder of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who died in police custody after being detained for improperly wearing her headscarf. Though Mohammadi was behind bars during these protests and couldnt participate directly, she has worked as an advocate for related causes for decades, and continues to document human rights abuses within prison.

Mohammadis win, though a significant symbolic and political move on the part of the Nobel committee, is unlikely to change Irans stance on the protests or its human rights violations. Nor is it likely to free Mohammadi or materially change her condition, though the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Berit Reiss-Andersen said in her speech announcing the prize that she hoped the Iranian authorities would release Mohammadi so she could attend the awards ceremony in December, the Associated Press reported.

The award is an explicit recognition of Mohammadis decades of work and of the ongoing struggle of women in Iran.

This years Peace Prize also recognises the hundreds of thousands of people who, in the preceding year, have demonstrated against the theocratic regimes policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women, the committee wrote in a press release Friday. Iranian women who spoke with the Associated Press, like 22-year-old chemistry student Arezou Mohebi, echoed that statement, calling the prize an award for all Iranian girls and women and Mohammadi herself the bravest I have ever seen.

Mohammadi, an engineer by training, has long been an active and important part of the Iranian struggle for human rights, working in particular on behalf of women and incarcerated people and against the death penalty. In 2003, she began working with the now-banned group Defenders of Human Rights Center, founded by Irans other Nobel Peace Prize winner, lawyer Shirin Ebadi.

Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, a historian of the modern Middle East at the University of Pennsylvania, told Vox that within Iran, Mohammadi is very highly respected and admired for her unflinching commitment to freedom, womens rights, and human rights, as well as for her personal sacrifices in realizing these ideals. People in Iran are rejoicing over this prize.

Mohammadi was first arrested in 2011 for her work advocating for incarcerated human rights activists and their families; while out on bail in 2015, she was again arrested and imprisoned for her campaigning against Irans use of the death penalty. In Iran, the death penalty is often used for drug-related offenses or crimes like blasphemy or sowing corruption on earth a charge that can be applied to a variety of activities, such as protesting the government or being LGBTQ.

Last year there were around 580 executions in Iran, according to UN Human Rights Chief Volker Trk. Executions have continued apace in 2023; many of those were for drug-related offenses, and many of those executed came from minority populations, according to UN data. In Iran, authorities use the death penalty and execution as a tool of political repression against protesters, dissidents and minorities after subjecting the accused to show trials, according to a report this year by a UN body of experts.

This is true, too, for the Iranians protesting over the last year. After Aminis death in September 2022, Iranians of all ages, ethnic groups, and sectors of society engaged in mass demonstrations across the country against the government. Thousands of people flooded the streets night after night often peacefully, with women whipping off their hijabs and lighting them on fire, or cutting their hair in not just a show of solidarity with Amini, but also an expression of broader economic frustrations and outrage with political repression.

This was a woman-led movement particularly meaningful in a society that specifically restricts womens access to basic rights like education, jobs, and participation in public life based on whether they comply with compulsory hijab laws, as a June Human Rights Watch report explains.

Its really touching and kind of unprecedented even, perhaps, globally, this kind of feminist angle, and it is real, Borzou Daragahi, an Iranian-American journalist, told Vox in November at the height of the protests. The men supporting the women, the schoolgirls going out and protesting by day, the schoolboys going out and rioting against the police at night, people backing each other up, people cheering on the women as they take off their hijabs and so on. This whole feminist angle of it is quite singular, for a political revolution in any country.

That movement came to be known by its chants of Woman-Life-Freedom, and, though Aminis death ignited it, it built on years and even decades of protest and feminist activism by people like Mohammadi. And after years of protest movements, including in 2009 and 2019, Woman-Life-Freedom was one of the most serious challenges to regime power since the 1979 revolution.

Irans Basij, a paramilitary police force under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), cracked down on the uprising, injuring the eyes of hundreds of protesters with rubber bullets and metal pellets and killing or injuring others when they fired on crowds with lethal force. Ultimately, Irans government detained about 20,000 protesters and sentenced many to death. At least 209 people had been executed by May of this year, according to UN reports.

Though Mohammadi has been in and out of prison since 2015, she has continued to organize while incarcerated, fighting against inhumane conditions, including allegations of systematic torture and sexual violence. Mohammadi also participated in the Woman-Life-Freedom mass protests in her own way, according to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, expressing her support for activists on the street and organizing solidarity actions among her fellow prisoners.

That, however, led to more brutal crackdowns from prison authorities; Mohammadi was barred from receiving phone calls or visitors. She has not seen her husband, Taghi Rahmani, who lives in exile in Paris with their 16-year-old twins, in 11 years.

The global support and recognition of my human rights advocacy makes me more resolved, more responsible, more passionate and more hopeful, Mohammadi wrote in a statement to the New York Times. I also hope this recognition makes Iranians protesting for change stronger and more organized. Victory is near.

However, its possible that Mohammadis win and the international recognition for her work will bring more strife and more crackdowns for her and for Iranian society at large. Regime-linked news agencies dismissed the prize; The Islamic Republic News Agency stated it had become a tool to satisfy the political desires of the Western countries, and Fars claimed it honored someone who persisted in creating tension and unrest and falsely claimed that she was beaten in prison.

Over the past year, the protests have garnered less media attention, and the regime has cracked down on society by purging academics from universities and arresting activists and journalists. Although the protests did not topple the government, it does seem to have caused an enduring fracture between the regime and society. Thats partly a result of the multiple crises economic, political, and social that Iran is currently facing, but it also speaks to the strength of the protest movement.

Now, Kashani-Sabet said, Mohammadis Nobel Prize will keep the embers of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement burning and alert the world that Iranian women and the Iranian people have not abandoned their resolve to usher in a free and tolerant Iran.

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Narges Mohammadi's Nobel Peace Prize is for Iran's women and girls - Vox.com