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Saturday, January 10, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, January 10, 2026
Iran using ‘most blatant tools of repression’ against protesters, filmmakers say
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Iranian director, screenwriter, and producer Jafar Panahi poses during a photocall for the film, 'Un simple accident' (A Simple Accident) at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 21, 2025. (Miguel MEDINA / AFP)
PARIS, France — Iranian authorities are using the “most blatant tools of repression” to crack down on mass protests, two prize-winning filmmakers say in a joint statement, calling a more than 36-hour internet shutdown an attempt to mask abuses.
“Experience has shown that resorting to such measures is intended to conceal the violence inflicted during the suppression of protests,” Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi say on the Instagram account of Pahani, who won the top prize at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
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