Anti-government slogans at the funeral of Mehrjouyi; Mona Mehrjouyi attended without mandatory hijab

The funeral ceremony for Dariush Mehrjouyi, the renowned Iranian director, and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadi-Far, a screenwriter, was held on Wednesday, October 18, in the courtyard of Rudaki Hall in Tehran, attended by a number of artists, cultural figures, and his admirers amidst anti-government slogans from the participants. Mona Mehrjouyi, the daughter of Dariush Mehrjouyi and Vahideh Mohammadi-Far, who attended the ceremony without the mandatory hijab required by the Islamic Republic, stated: "As my father said, the killers are really among us." Additionally, during the funeral of the famous Iranian filmmaker and his wife, whose horrific murder has been compared by some experts to the serial killings of dissidents, anti-Islamic Republic slogans were chanted. Participants at the funeral of these two artists, whose deaths have been likened to the murders of Dariush and Parastoo Forouhar, shouted: "Death to the perpetrators of this crime." The crowd also chanted: "Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life is for Iran." Another slogan from the attendees at the funeral of Mehrjouyi and Mohammadi-Far was "Women, Life, Freedom." However, the anti-Israeli remarks made by Marzieh Boroumand at the ceremony were met with protests from attendees, and some booed her. Among the speakers at the ceremony were Masoud Kimiai, another renowned Iranian director and a close friend of Dariush Mehrjouyi, and Marzieh Boroumand, the CEO of the House of Cinema. It has been reported that Dariush Mehrjouyi and Vahideh Mohammadi-Far will be buried in section 88, designated for artists. Following the murder of 84-year-old Dariush Mehrjouyi and his 54-year-old wife Vahideh Mohammadi-Far at their private villa in Zibadasht, Ferdows County, initial speculation suggested that the killer or killers were non-Iranian nationals, a claim that has drawn significant reactions. In this context, a number of Afghan filmmakers and artists issued a statement condemning this crime and expressing solidarity with the artistic community, calling on Iranian judicial authorities to "quickly identify the perpetrators of this horrific murder and bring them to justice." According to the news website Akhbar Rooz, parts of the message, prepared by about 100 Afghan artists, stated: "Dariush Mehrjouyi, this master of cinema, with his enduring works such as 'Gav', 'Postman', 'Tenants', 'Hamoon', and 'Santouri', undoubtedly ranks among the great, committed filmmakers with a school in our civilizational sphere. The works of the late Mehrjouyi have always inspired and motivated Afghan filmmakers." Following the murder of Dariush Mehrjouyi and his wife, many users and analysts have compared it to the serial killings of writers and dissidents in the 1990s. Parviz Dashtmalchi, a writer and researcher, also told Voice of America that the murder of the two bears many similarities to the killing of figures like Shapour Bakhtiar. Meanwhile, officials of the Islamic Republic have reacted negatively to this issue and the speculations surrounding it. For instance, Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior, stated on Wednesday in response to whether there is a similarity between the murder of Dariush Mehrjouyi and his wife and the serial killings: "It is incorrect to attribute this murder to the serial killings." Ahmad Vahidi also claimed that, according to him, some are always seeking to "psychologically destabilize society." Meanwhile, according to the judiciary of Alborz Province, the number of detainees in the case related to the murder of Dariush Mehrjouyi and Vahideh Mohammadi-Far has reached 10. The murder of two prominent Iranian filmmakers has sparked new tensions within Iranian society.