Mehdi Mahmoudian, an Academy Award nominee for his screenplay for Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, was arrested in Tehran on Saturday, January 31st, after he publicly criticized Iran’s leader, Ali Khamenei. The film is also nominated for Best International Feature. Following his arrest, Neon, the film’s distributor, reported that two other people who signed the statement condemning Khamenei – Vida Rabbani and Abdullah Momeni – were also arrested.
The statement was signed by filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof (director of The Seed of the Sacred Fig), and Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi. They strongly condemned the Iranian government’s violent response to recent protests. The statement calls the widespread killing of protesters – those who bravely demanded an end to the current government – a systematic crime against humanity. It specifically cites the use of live ammunition, the deaths of tens of thousands, the mass arrests and persecution of protesters, attacks on the injured, and the denial of medical care as a betrayal of Iran and a threat to its security.
Jafar Panahi shared that he first met Mehdi Mahmoudian while they were both in prison. He immediately noticed Mahmoudian’s calm and kind nature, as well as his strong sense of responsibility for others. Panahi recalls Mahmoudian consistently helping new prisoners by providing essentials and offering them support. After his own release in 2023, Panahi asked Mahmoudian to review the dialogue for his film, It Was Just an Accident. Panahi valued Mahmoudian’s insights, explaining that his nine years in prison and extensive human rights work gave him firsthand knowledge of the justice system and prison life, making him a trustworthy and knowledgeable advisor.
Panahi explained that he texted Mahmoudian at 4 a.m. after they had spoken by phone. When he didn’t receive a response by noon the next day, he learned of Mahmoudian’s arrest through BBC Persian. Panahi described Mahmoudian as more than just an activist and prisoner of conscience, calling him a valuable witness, a good listener, and a genuinely moral person, whose absence is keenly felt both inside and outside of prison.
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2026-02-02 02:54