Opposition film director: Khamenei’s regime will not be able to maintain its control over Iran Iran

Khamenei’s regime will not be able to maintain its control over Iranian society after the violent suppression of the latest wave of protests, one of the country’s top filmmakers has predicted.

Director Jaafar Panahi told the Guardian: “It is impossible for this government to be able to maintain itself in this situation.” “They know it too. They know it would be impossible to rule the people. Maybe their only goal now is to push the country to the brink of complete collapse and try to destroy it.”

Protests sparked by a deteriorating economy have swept Iran since late December, and were met with deadly crackdowns by security forces over the weekend, with reports of more than 2,500 people killed.

Panahi said that the internet blackout imposed last Friday, which blocked between 95 and 99 percent of the country’s communications network, was “an indication that there will be a very big carnage to come.” “But we never expected the crackdown to have such dimensions and numbers.”

Panahi, 65, spoke to The Guardian from the US, where he is promoting his latest film, It Was Just an Accident. The film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and is a top contender for the 2026 Academy Awards in the International Feature Film category.

Part revenge thriller, part dark comedy, the French Oscar-nominated film follows a group of former Iranian political prisoners trying to decide whether to get revenge on a man they believe tortured them in prison.

“What I depict in this film is that when the cycle of violence continues, it becomes very difficult to stop,” Panahi said. He added: “Unfortunately, due to the brutality practiced by the state, there is a fear that this cycle of violence will continue.”

In December, the director was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison on charges of creating propaganda against the political regime, but announced his intention to return to the country.

He has been imprisoned twice, for protesting the arrest of two fellow directors who criticized the authorities in 2022, and for supporting anti-government protests in 2010.

Panahi said that although the collapse of the government led by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was inevitable after the recent bloody crackdowns, its timing was impossible to predict.

“The system will collapse 100%,” Panahi said. “This is what has happened to dictatorial governments throughout history. No one knows when they will collapse. We want it to happen as soon as possible, in the next few minutes, but there are many factors that have to come together for that to happen.”

He warned Western governments against dealing with the mullahs’ regime as rational actors. Speaking through his translator, Shida Dayani, he said: “In other dictatorships around the world, you will see that there will be at least a few people who will act on the basis of rationality and who will not allow it to get to this point.” “But unfortunately, there is no rationality in this system. All they can think about is oppression and how they can stay in power even for just one day. The last thing they think about is the people.”

Some anti-regime protests, in Iran and among the Iranian community in Europe and the United States, have called for the return of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the last Shah of Iran. Washington-based Pahlavi, whose late father ruled Iran as an autocratic monarch from 1941 to 1979, called on people to take to the streets.

Panahi admitted that the calls for the return of the Shah’s son were “the voice that comes out.” [of the protests] But he added: “As Reza Pahlavi himself said, after the transitional period there must be a referendum in Iran, and that is when the people decide what kind of government they want and who they want to rule them. During this transitional period, we must all be united.”

In response to a question about whether Pahlavi could be trusted to oversee the post-regime transitional phase, he said that this matter is up to the Iranian people. He added: “Whether we agree with Pahlavi or not, we know that the vast majority of Iran’s population wants the current regime to leave.”