The Iranian film-makers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof have condemned the internet blackout in their country as a “blatant tool of repression” intended to conceal violence against protesters, amid an outpouring of solidarity from artists in the diaspora.
Panahi, a Palme d’Or-winning film-maker who the Iranian regime sentenced last month in absentia to a year in prison for “propaganda activities”, and Rasoulof, a prominent film-maker who fled Iran in 2024 while appealing against a prison sentence and now lives in exile in Europe, posted a joint statement on social media on Saturday.
“In recent days, following the presence of millions of Iranians in the streets protesting against the Islamic Republic, the government has once again resorted to its most blatant tools of repression,” they wrote.
“On the one hand, the Iranian regime has cut off communication routes inside the country – the internet, mobile phones, and landlines – severing people’s ability to communicate with one another; and on the other hand, it has completely blocked all means of contact with the outside world.
“Experience has shown that resorting to such measures is intended to conceal the violence inflicted during the suppression of protests.”
They said citizens had been left defenceless and called on the international community, human rights organisations and the media to “immediately find ways to facilitate access to vital information in Iran by enabling communication platforms, and monitor what is happening in Iran”.
The fortnight of unrest and growing signs of escalating violence against protesters has prompted many other leading voices of the Iranian diaspora to speak out.
Many have begun using the hashtag #IranianRevolution and #IranianRevolution2026 to highlight the scale and impact of the protests.
The Iranian-born, UK-based artist Soheila Sokhanvari, renowned for her portraits of Iranian rebel women, posted on social media: “Innocent unarmed people are subjected to brutal force and live bullets with impunity in Iran. This is a revolution and not a protest. Please be their voice.”
She said international reporting on the protests despite the blackout would enable “the Iranian people who are risking their lives for their freedom [to] feel supported and not feel their sacrifice will be in silence.”
“Also it will tell the Iranian regime that the world is watching and their atrocities will not go unpunished,” she said. “The Islamic Republic has proven repeatedly that Iranian lives means nothing to them.”
In a post on Instagram, Golshifteh Farahani, who in 2008 became the first Iran-based actor to have a role in a Hollywood film since the 1979 revolution, appearing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Ridley Scott’s CIA thriller Body of Lies, praised the resistance of the Iranian people.
“Iran is on fire once again. My heart beats with the people of Iran,” wrote Farahani, who now lives in exile after refusing to wear a hijab while acting in international films.
The British comedian Omid Djalili, who is of Iranian descent, told The News Agents he was trying to amplify the voices of the people of Iran as much as he can. “We are seeing videos of security forces shooting at them … but a lot of the security forces are running away … you’ve got 150 to 200 people chasing them. So there’s been a tremendous shift. Definitely #IranProtest2026 has now changed to #IranRevolution2026.”
