Iranians pay tribute to slain director Mehrjui

TEHRAN: Iranian cinema stars Wednesday joined crowds of mourners for the funeral procession in Tehran of director Dariush Mehrjui and his wife, who were killed in unexplained conditions.
Jafar Panahi, Massoud Kimiai, Mohammad Rasoulof and Bahman Farmanara were among the prominent filmmakers who gathered at the large Roudaki performance hall in central Tehran to pay a final tribute to Mehrjui.
The 83-year-old director, associated with the Iranian new wave of cinema, and his wife Vahideh Mohammadifar, a 54-year-old screenwriter, were stabbed and killed on Saturday at their home in Karaj, west of the Iranian capital.
Police have arrested 10 people as part of their investigation, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said Tuesday, without providing further details on any motives for the killings.
Earlier Wednesday Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the police and the judiciary “are seriously pursuing this matter and have obtained some leads,” according to Mizan.
He ruled out however any “link between the murder of Mehrjui and the serial assassinations” of dissident intellectuals in November 1998 committed by the country’s secret service.
The 1998 crimes were attributed by the government to “uncontrolled elements” from the intelligence ministry, who were sentenced to prison terms of up to life.
Since Mehrjui’s death, tributes have poured in to celebrate the works of the pioneer director, producer and screenwriter, who during his six-decade career was confronted by censorship both before and after the Islamic revolution of 1979.
The director was best known for his 1969 metaphorical drama “The Cow” as well as his 1990 dark comedy “Hamoun” showing 24 hours in the life of an intellectual tormented by divorce and psychological anxieties.
The couple was buried in the artists’ section of the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran, according to state news agency IRNA.

Iranians pay tribute to slain director Mehrjui