In light of intensifying anti-regime protests in Iran and the internet blackout, acclaimed filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulouf issued a joint statement requesting global attention to the ongoing incident.
“Experience has shown that resorting to such measures is intended to conceal the violence inflicted during the suppression of protests. We are deeply concerned for the lives of our fellow citizens, our families, and our colleagues and friends who, under these circumstances, have been left defenseless," they wrote to the outlet Deadline.
The protests, the biggest anti-regime protests in the last three years, were triggered by the country's economic and financial crisis. The Wall Street Journal reported that the protests have now spread to 180 cities.
According to a report in Iran International, security forces have been using lethal force against protesters nationwide, resulting in mass casualties. The outlet has also received footage from Kahrizak, south of Tehran, showing evidence of several dead bodies in body bags, with eyewitness accounts verifying it.
More than 2,300 arrests have been made, and 65 people were reported to have been killed by Iranian security forces since the protests erupted, according to rights group Human Rights Activists in Iran.
Here's the full statement of Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof:
“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.
“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.
“We call on the international community, human rights organizations, and the independent media to immediately find ways to facilitate access to vital information in Iran by enabling communication platforms, and to monitor what is happening in Iran.
“History bears witness that silence today will have regretful consequences in the future. Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof,” they signed.