TEHRAN — Iranian intelligence agents detained human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh at her home in Tehran overnight. There was no immediate public explanation for the arrest of the 64-year-old lawyer, who has defended activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves in defiance of Iran's mandatory dress code.

In a brief call on Thursday, Sotoudeh told her family she was detained by the Intelligence Ministry and instructed them to follow up on her arrest with prosecutors. All communication devices in her house, including those belonging to her father, were confiscated during the operation. Sotoudeh has been imprisoned multiple times and had most recently been out on bail for health reasons. She has a heart condition.

Days before her arrest, Sotoudeh gave an interview to a Persian-language media outlet based abroad in which she was critical of the government. "The Islamic Republic's policies have exposed us to death," Sotoudeh said during the interview. She had also spoken out against the government crackdown on protests that took place in January.

Sotoudeh's daughter, Mehraveh Khandan, who is outside Iran, received messages from her family inside the country through an intermediary confirming her mother's arrest. "The regime had (some) limits before. They don't have (them) anymore," Mehraveh Khandan said. "It is hard for our voice to be heard in this time."

Sotoudeh's husband, Reza Khandan, an activist, is currently imprisoned in Tehran's Evin prison. Iranian authorities have imposed restrictions on communications and the internet since January, limiting the ability of people inside the country to make contact with the outside world.

The detention took place as Iranian authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent and political activists across the country. Since a war between Iran and the U.S. and Israel began on Feb. 28, 2026, authorities have arrested hundreds of people, often for communicating with foreign media. Authorities have also carried out executions of detained protesters who had been facing the death sentence.

Sotoudeh has represented some of Iran's most prominent dissidents over the course of her career. Her previous clients include Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and several activists arrested during government crackdowns on protests. In 2012, Sotoudeh received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought from the European Union. Iranian authorities had not issued any public statement regarding Sotoudeh's detention at the time of this report.