(Tehran) Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife were stabbed to death at their home by an unknown assailant, state media reported on Sunday.
The official IRNA news agency quoted Hossein Fazeli, a judicial official, as saying that Mr. Mehrjhi and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were found lifeless with injuries to their necks.
Mr. Fazeli explained that it was the filmmaker’s daughter, Mona Mehrjui, who made the macabre discovery when she went to visit her father on Saturday evening at his home, located in a suburb about 30 kilometers away. west of the capital, Tehran.
Authorities are investigating the killings but are offering no speculation on a motive, although the woman has complained about a threat on social media in recent weeks.
Dariush Mehrjui, aged 83, was known as the co-founder of the new Iranian cinematic wave in the early 1970s which focused mainly on realism. He has received numerous awards, including a Silver Hugo from the Chicago International Film Festival in 1998 and a Golden Seashell from the San Sebastian International Film Festival in 1993.
The Iranian director studied in the film program at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early 1960s.