Mehdi Mahmoudian detained after signing statement condemning Iran’s supreme leader for recent bloodshed
A co-writer of Oscar-nominated film It Was Just an Accident has been arrested in Tehran just weeks before the Academy Awards, after signing a statement condemning Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, for recent bloodshed in the country.
The human rights campaigner Mehdi Mahmoudian was detained on Saturday after adding his name to a statement declaring that “the primary responsibility for these atrocities lies with Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and the repressive structure of the regime”.
Two more of the 17 signatories, Vida Rabbani and Abdullah Momeni, have also been arrested. Authorities have so released no information about the charges against those detained.
It Was Just an Accident, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 2025, is a contender for best international feature film and best screenplay at the Oscars on 15 March.
