Published: 10:50 AM, 17 May 2026
Cannes: Iranian director Farhadi condemns both US-Israeli attacks, crackdown on protesters
Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi condemned Friday both the killing of civilians in US and Israeli attacks on his country and the "massacring" of protesters by the Islamic republic.
Farhadi, who travelled from Tehran last week, trod a fine line when asked for his thoughts about events in his war-hit homeland at the Cannes Film Festival, where his latest film, the French-language "Parallel Tales", received its premiere.
Speaking of two "tragic events" this year, Farhadi referred to "the death of many innocent people, children, civilians who were killed during the war, during the attack that Iran has suffered".
"And before this war, there was the death of many demonstrators, people who had taken to the streets to protest, who were just as innocent, and who were massacred," he added.
"Every murder is a crime. From no point of view, or with any justification, can I accept life being taken away from someone, whether it's a war, an execution, or massacring protesters."
Iran has been at war with Israel and the United States since February 28, with a shaky ceasefire in place since April 8.
Since the start of the conflict, Tehran has ramped up executions, particularly in cases involving alleged espionage or security-related charges.
Iran was rocked by huge anti-government protests that peaked in January.
The government acknowledged more than 3,000 deaths during the protests, but blamed the violence on "terrorist acts" orchestrated by the US and Israel.
Human rights groups and researchers outside Iran estimate that anywhere from 7,000 to 35,000 people were killed in indiscriminate shooting by security forces.
