"On January 31, the domestic oppositionists Abdollah Momeni, Mehdi Mahmoudian, and Vida Rabbani were swept up and sent to prisons in northern Iran, far from their Tehran residences. They were released on bail on February 17. Mahmoudian's case attracted international attention because he is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Jafar Panahi's 2025 film, It Was Just an Accident. All three figures were once associated with the regime's internal movement for incremental reform;"
"Last month, the three arrested activists had joined two like-minded figures-former Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh and the Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi, both in prison-in calling for a democratic transition and free elections for a constituent assembly. In an interview with BBC Persian, Mahmoudian called on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to resign. Hassan Asadi Zeydabadi, a lawyer who represents Rabbani and Momeni, told me that his clients were most likely arrested because they advocated for Khamenei's dismissal"
Iranian security forces arrested prominent domestic critics after killing thousands of protesters, detaining Abdollah Momeni, Mehdi Mahmoudian, and Vida Rabbani and moving them to distant prisons. The three were released on bail on February 17; Mahmoudian gained international attention as the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Jafar Panahi's 2025 film It Was Just an Accident. All three previously aligned with the regime's incremental reform movement but later advocated wholesale system transformation. They joined imprisoned figures Mostafa Tajzadeh and Narges Mohammadi in calling for a democratic transition and a constituent assembly. Advocating Khamenei's dismissal drew the regime's ire, and authorities aim to prevent a unified national opposition.
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