Mehdi Mahmoudian, the Oscar-nominated co-screenwriter of Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident, was arrested in Tehran yesterday after signing a statement condemning the actions of Iran‘s supreme leader, Ali Khameni, during the recent violent crackdown on government protesters.
Neon, the U.S. distributor of It Was Just an Accident, said Mahmoudian was arrested along with two other signatories, Vida Rabbani and Abdullah Momeni. A total of 17 people signed the letter, including Panahi, who is currently outside Iran promoting his film, and Mohammad Rasoulof, director of 2025 Oscar-nominee The Seed of the Sacred Fig, now living in exile in Germany. Other signatories include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi and Nasrin Sotoudeh, winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
The Iranian arresting authorities have not yet publicly confirmed the arrest or given details about the charges against those detained.
In the letter (see full version below), the signatories call out Khameni for authorizing the “mass and systematic killing of citizens” in the crackdown against government protests earlier this month. The Iranian government has acknowledged more than 3,000 killed but estimates for human rights organizations run to the tens of thousands.
It Was Just an Accident, Panahi’s first film since being released from prison in Iran on charges of “propaganda” against the regime, won the Palme d’Or in Cannes last year and is nominated for two Oscars, for best original screenplay and best international feature.
The film, which looks at a former political prisoner who considers violent revenge against his prison torturer, was co-written by Panahi, Mahmoudian, Nader Saeiver and Shadhmer Rastin.
“I met Mehdi Mahmoudian in prison,” Panahi said in a statement released after Mahmoudian’s arrest. “From the very first days, he stood out — not only because of his calm demeanor and kind conduct but also because of a rare sense of responsibility toward others. Whenever a new prisoner arrived, Mehdi would try to provide them with basic necessities and, more importantly, offer reassurance. He became a quiet pillar inside the prison—someone inmates of all beliefs and backgrounds trusted and confided in.
We spent seven months behind bars together. A few months after his release, while I was working on the screenplay for It Was Just an Accident, I asked him to help refine the dialogue. His nine years of imprisonment had given him direct, lived knowledge of the judicial system and prison life. Also, his extensive fieldwork in human rights had made him a reliable and authoritative source for consultation.
I remember during the shooting of It Was Just an Accident, we filmed the 13-minute shot of tying the interrogator to a tree one night, from dusk to dawn, but it didn’t turn out right. The following night, I brought Mehdi to the set to help, drawing on his understanding of interrogators and the fine details we needed to get right. That night, with Mehdi’s help, we finally succeeded in capturing the shot.
Forty-eight hours before his arrest, we spoke on the phone and then exchanged a few messages. I sent him my last message at four in the morning. By noon the next day, there was no reply. I grew worried and contacted mutual friends; none of them had heard from him. A few hours later, BBC Persian officially announced that Mehdi Mahmoudian, along with Abdollah Momeni and Vida Rabbani, had been arrested.
Mehdi Mahmoudian is not just a human rights activist and a prisoner of conscience; he is a witness, a listener and a rare moral presence—a presence whose absence is immediately felt, both inside prison walls and beyond them.”
Panahi was sentenced, in absentia, to a year in prison and given a two-year work ban by the Iranian government in December. He is appealing the case but has said, after the awards season, he will return to Iran to face trial.
You can read the full statement signed by Mahmoudian and the other activists below.
“Khamenei Is Responsible for These Horrific Times in Iran
“Honorable, courageous and grieving people of Iran,
“The mass and systematic killing of citizens who bravely took to the streets to bring an end to an illegitimate regime constitutes an organized state crime against humanity. The use of live ammunition against civilians, the killing of tens of thousands, the arrest and persecution of tens of thousands more, the assault on the wounded, the obstruction of medical care, and the killing of injured protesters amount to nothing less than an assault on Iran’s national security and a betrayal of the country.
“The primary responsibility for these atrocities lies with Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and the repressive structure of the regime. This authoritarian apparatus has relied on mass killings to ensure its survival while ignoring the basic and inalienable rights of citizens—including the fundamental right to seek change in the political system. The systematic labeling of protesters as “seditionists,” “rioters,” “vandals,” or “terrorists affiliated with enemies” is a deliberate attempt to deny the Iranian people their basic right to self-determination.
“The bitter experiences of recent decades have demonstrated that the principal obstacle to rescuing Iran from its current crisis is Ali Khamenei and the regime of religious despotism he leads. Each day this regime remains in power, it deepens society’s collapse, spreads death and destruction, and drives the country further toward irreversible ruin. For years, Iran has been trapped in crises caused by ill-conceived confrontational policies, and today, the risk of war—resulting directly from the continuation of this regime—looms over the nation more than ever.
“At this critical historical moment, when the future of Iran is darker than at any other time, we reaffirm the urgent necessity of justice for those killed and the immediate release of all political prisoners. While we recognize that unchecked power does not willingly submit to change, we believe that the only path to saving Iran lies in the prosecution of all those who ordered and carried out acts of repression and in bringing an end to the un-republican and inhumane ruling regime.
“We call for the formation of a broad national front to organize a referendum and establish a constituent assembly, enabling all Iranians of all political beliefs to participate in a democratic and transparent process to determine their political future.
“We warn that failure to pursue this path will condemn Iran to a devastating cycle of violence.
“May the sun of freedom rise over our people and our homeland.”
Signatories:
Ghorban Behzadian-Nejad; Jafar Panahi; Amirsalar Davoudi; Vida Rabbani; Mohammad Rasoulof; Hossein Razagh; Nasrin Sotoudeh; Abolfazl Ghadyani; Hatam Ghaderi; Abbas Sadeghi; Manzar Zarrabi; Nargess Foundation; Mehdi Mahmoudian; Saeed Madani; Abdollah Momeni; Mohammad Najafi; Sedigheh Vasmaghi
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