February 2026

Mehdi Mahmoudian, the co-writer of Jafar Panahi’s Oscar-nominated political drama “It Was Just An Accident,” was arrested in Tehran on Saturday after endorsing a statement denouncing the actions of Ali Khamenei, the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Two of the other 17 co-singers were also arrested. Panahi, who was recently sentenced in absentia in Iran to one year in prison, was among the signatories. The activists’ statement condemns the Iranian government’s deadly campaign against civilian protestors. It read, in part, “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.”

Panahi, a seasoned filmmaker and political activist who emerged into the American mainstream as an influential voice after “It Was Just An Accident” won the Palme d’Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, released a statement honoring his co-writer.

“I met Mehdi Mahmoudian in prison,” Panahi said in a statement. “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.”

He added, “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.”

Read Panahi’s statement in full below:

I met Mehdi Mahmoudian in prison. 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 thirteen-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. — Jafar Panahi