Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has urged the UN and wider international community to help end the current violence between Israeli and Iranian forces in an Instagram post, writing that both regimes must be condemned.
Panahi shared the lengthy Instagram post yesterday. The post began with the filmmaker writing, “An attack on my homeland, Iran, is in no way acceptable. Israel has violated Iran and should be tried in an international court as a war aggressor.” See the full post down below.
The filmmaker continued to write that the start of Israel’s military campaign in Iran does not negate the “four decades of mismanagement, corruption, oppression, tyranny, and incompetence of the Islamic Republic.”
“This government has neither the power, will, nor legitimacy required to run the country or manage crises,” the post continued. “Staying in this regime means the continued fall, the continuation of the repression, and the continuation of the flock! The only way to escape is the immediate dissolution of this system and initiate a people’s responsive and democratic government.”
Panahi added that “Both regimes should be blatantly condemned for their persistence of violence, warfare, and absolute indifference to human dignity.”
“Missile attacks, bombardment of residential areas, and targeted killing of civilians are crimes. Morals, politics, and safety are none of the excuses for these crimes. Continuing this cycle of blood and hate will only bring more instability in the world and an expansion of disaster,” he wrote.
The filmmaker ended his post by calling on the UN and the “world community” to force the two countries to “immediately halt military attacks and end the killing of civilians.”
“Continuing silence and inaction means participating in crime,” he wrote.
After years of simmering tensions, Israel and Iran fell into direct conflict last Friday after Israel launched an aerial attack on Iran. Iran labelled the attacks a declaration of war and responded with its own missile campaign. The two countries continue to trade attacks.
Panahi has been the most prominent and consistent artistic voice in Iran against the current regime. In 2010, the Iranian government handed him a six-year prison sentence and a 20-year ban on filmmaking for supporting anti-government protests and creating “propaganda.” However, the filmmaker has continued to work, creating non-fiction and fiction features like his latest film It Was Just An Accident, which won this year’s Palme d’Or.
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