In a new crackdown on dissidents and artists, Iran has arrested three prominent filmmakers over the past week, as well as a prominent reformist politician and members of the public. Family members of protesters killed in anti-government uprisings in 2019.
The directors, Jaffar Panahi, Mohammad Rasolouf and Mostafa Aleahmad, have all voiced criticism of the government. Mr. Rasolouf recently organized a social media campaign that calls on the country’s security forces who are facing protesters to put down their weapons and join the people.
The latest arrests come as a new chief takes over the powerful intelligence wing of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, following event at the end of June by the former head, Hossein Taeb. Mr. Taeb, an influential and feared figure, was removed from his job after a series of embarrassing failures related to the Israeli campaign to targeting Iranian officials and nuclear and military sitesaccording to analysts in both countries.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a public address in late June that the “psychological safety” of Iranians was threatened by comments on the web and in the media. social media, while calling on authorities to implement content controls similar to those enacted in the more repressive 1980s.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran, an independent advocacy group based in New York, said at least 15 Activists and dissidents have been arrested in Iran so far this month.
“The new IRGC intelligence chief seems intent on quickly launching a new reign of terror just as Khamenei requested a few weeks ago,” Hadi Ghamei, the organization’s director, said in an interview. “The arbitrary mass arrests are an attempt to silence leading voices and opinion makers.”
In May, another standout group documentary filmmaker was briefly arrested and later released pending trial.
The latest arrest has sparked an outcry at international film festivals. In a statement, the Cannes Film Festival demanded the immediate release of the filmmakers and condemned what it called “a wave of apparent repression taking place in Iran against its artists”. .
Mr. Panahi won the Berlin International Film Festival’s Top Golden Bear award in 2015 for his film “Taxi”, in which he played a taxi driver and discussed social issues with passengers. , and the 2000 Venice International Film Festival’s Golden Lion for “The Circle,” about the challenges Iranian women face as they fight for more rights in a conservative society.
Mr. Rasolouf addressed the topic of the death penalty in Iran in “No Crimes,” which won Berlin’s top prize in 2020. He also won an award at Cannes 2011 for the series. movie “Goodbye”, tells the familiar story of young professionals desperate to leave Iran.
Both men had previously been indicted on murky charges. Mr. Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison in 2011, banned from leaving the country and banned from making films for 20 years on charges of conducting propaganda against the government. Mr. Rasolouf was sentenced to one year in prison in 2019, and banned from making films and from leaving the country for two years on charges of colluding with the enemy against national security.
Kaveh Farnam, a Dubai-based producer who has collaborated with Rasolouf on his films since 2015, said the government’s intention was to silence the artists. “Their aim was just to create fear and terror in the film and art community so no one dared to criticize them,” he said. “They thought that if they could shut down Rasolouf and Panahi, the others would shut up too.”
Mr. Rasolouf and Mr. Aleahmad were arrested on July 8 when security forces raided their homes and offices and confiscated their equipment, according to Mr. Farnam. They were taken to Evin prison and held in solitary confinement, where inmates were often subjected to intense interrogation, he said.
On Monday, a group of male supporters, including Mr. Panahi, gathered outside the prison to demand their release. Mr. Panahi was called to the prosecutor’s office inside the prison, but when he got there, along with a lawyer and another film associate, he was also arrested, Mr. Farnam said.
The reformist-linked politician also arrested in the crackdown, Mostafa Tajzadeh, is a former minister and adviser to the president. Mr. Tajzadeh said in a television interview that he no longer believes in the Islamic Republic and that the Iranian people were better off during the Shah’s rule before the 1979 revolution. Mr. Tajzadeh, speaking on social networks and in tweets, blamed Mr. Khamenei for many of the country’s current problems, from corruption to economic hardship.
At least eight family members of protesters killed during the November 2019 anti-government uprising, including parents and siblings, have also been arrested. Families of protesters have voiced criticism of the government, demanding accountability for the deaths of their loved ones.
Judiciary authorities have not released the reason for their arrest or the charges the detainees face. But their families, colleagues and media outlets offer a clue.
Fars News, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported that Mr Tajzadeh had been arrested on charges of “acting against national security” and “publishing lies with the aim of upsetting the public”. they”.
The state news agency IRNA reported that Mr Rasolouf and Mr Aleahmad were communicating with Iran’s enemies to create a public crisis and disturb the “security mentality” of the public, because they were gathering information. Collect signatures demanding accountability after a high-rise collapsed in the city of Abadan in May, killing more than 40 people.
