Early this morning, security forces have been rushing to the house of Jafar Panahi, the famous Iranian movie director. They arrested him and his wife, daughter and friends who were staying in his house. His son Panah Panahi confirmed the news of the arrest in a short interview with Jaras. “About 25 people in civil clothes rushed to the house this morning around 5am. They searched the house and took my father, mother and sister and 15 guests who were staying there with them.”
Panahi’s son told Jaras: “I was on my way back home and saw that our house was besieged. Later on, our neighbors told me that a group of 25 plainclothes had been entering the house. The neighbors called the police, but the police told them that this is security service staff and that they can do nothing about it.”
When Panahi wanted to leave Iran two weeks ago to participate in the Berlin Film festival, the Imam Khomeini Airport authority refused to let him go and told him that he was denied permission to leave Iran. Jafar Panahi is one of the most eminent Iranian film directors, with internationally acclaimed movies like Badkonake Sefid (The White Balloon, 1995), Dayereh (The Circle, 2000) and Offside (2006), which have won prizes in several international film festivals.