(Paris) Like many personalities and human rights defenders since this weekend, director Asghar Farhadi also called on Tuesday for the “release” of Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, arrested on Saturday in Iran for having supported the wave of protest.
“I stand with Taraneh and call for his release and that of my fellow filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, and all the other lesser-known prisoners whose only crime is that they wanted a better life,” said Asghar Farhadi on Instagram on Tuesday.
PHOTO SARAH MEYSSONNIER, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Asghar Farhadi
Figure of Iranian cinema (Leila and her brothers), Taraneh Alidoosti, 38, was arrested on Saturday for social media posts in support of the protests that include the execution of protesters, or in which she is seen removing her veil.
“If showing such support is a crime, then tens of millions of people in this country are criminals,” also wrote the two-time Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker, who notably starred the actress in The customer (Oscar for best foreign language film in 2017).
Taraneh Alidoosti is the most famous personality arrested in connection with the protest movement agitating Iran for three months. Several personalities from Iranian cinema have also been worried or arrested by the authorities, even before the current wave of protest, such as directors Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, still in detention.
Since this weekend, calls for the release of the actress fuse, both in Iran and internationally.
“The brave actress from Iran has been arrested,” posted on Instagram her colleague Golshifteh Farahani, who began her career in Iran before fleeing the country and settling in France.
The British pop group Pet Shop Boys denounced a “fascist government” in Iran following this arrest, while the Cannes Film Festival called for the “immediate release” of Taraneh Alidoosti.
American diplomacy added its voice to these calls, State Department spokesman Ned Price saying on Tuesday that the United States would “closely monitor the regime’s treatment of Mr.me Alidoosti” and asking Tehran to stop these “arbitrary detentions”.
“This is part of the regime’s efforts to spread fear and put an end to these peaceful protests,” he told reporters.
The protest in Iran was sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after being arrested in Tehran by morality police. Since then, hundreds of people have been killed, thousands arrested and two 23-year-old men have been hanged.