Mehdi Mahmoudian, ‘It Was Just an Accident’ Co-Writer, Arrested in Iran for Opposition Statement

Mehdi Mahmoudian, the Oscar-nominated co-screenwriter of “It Was Just an Accident,” was arrested in Tehran by Iranian authorities after criticizing leadership, according to multiple international media reports.

Mahmoudian was arrested Saturday in Tehran alongside fellow activists Vida Rabbani and Abdollah Momeni, all of whom were among 17 signatories to a statement condemning supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They included “It Was Just an Accident” director Jafar Panahi, who has been sentenced by Iranian authorities to a year in prison in absentia.

The statement condemned the recent deadly crackdown on protesters by Iranian authorities, accusing the Islamic Republic and its leaders of crimes against humanity. Tens of thousands of people were killed, injured and arrested during the crackdown – largely veiled by a digital blackout – which the statement described as “nothing less than an assault on Iran’s national security and a betrayal of the country.”

After Mahmoudian’s arrest, Panahi released a statement honoring his collaborator on “It Was Just an Accident,” which was nominated for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay. Panahi’s other co-writers include Nader Saïvar and Shadmehr Rastin.

His full statement is 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 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. —

Jafar Panahi

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