Oscar-winning Iranian Filmmaker Backs Alidoosti

Cast member Taraneh Alidoosti poses on the red carpet ahead of the screening for the film "Forushande" (The Salesman) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 21, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Cast member Taraneh Alidoosti poses on the red carpet ahead of the screening for the film "Forushande" (The Salesman) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 21, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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Oscar-winning Iranian Filmmaker Backs Alidoosti

Cast member Taraneh Alidoosti poses on the red carpet ahead of the screening for the film "Forushande" (The Salesman) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 21, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman
Cast member Taraneh Alidoosti poses on the red carpet ahead of the screening for the film "Forushande" (The Salesman) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 21, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi on Tuesday urged the release of Taraneh Alidoosti, who has starred in four of his films, after the actor's arrest for supporting the three-month protest movement.

Alidoosti, 38, was arrested on Saturday, official media said, after making a string of social media posts supporting the protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death -- including removing her headscarf and condemning the execution of activists.

Farhadi, who notably directed Alidoosti in his Oscar-winning film "The Salesman", said he stood by the celebrated actor who he said was in jail merely because of her "rightful support" of fellow Iranians.

Alidoosti is one of the most prominent figures yet arrested in the Iranian authorities' crackdown that has seen the detention of lawyers, cultural figures, journalists and campaigners.

"She is in prison for her rightful support of her fellow countrymen and her opposition to the unjust sentences being issued," director Farhadi said on Instagram.

"If showing such support is a crime, then tens of millions of people of this land are criminals."

Iran has been shaken by protests since Amini's September 16 death in custody after her arrest by the morality police for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress rules for women.

At least 14,000 people have been arrested since the nationwide unrest began, the United Nations said last month.

The United States on Tuesday condemned Alidoosti's arrest as "part of the regime's effort to sow fear and suppress these peaceful protests." 

"We call on Iranian authorities to cease the arbitrary detentions and to stop denying the Iranian people their fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression and the freedom of peaceful assembly," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington.

"We'll be watching how the regime treats Ms. Alidoosti and all those it has detained arbitrarily," he said.



Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
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Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)

One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that the US data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.

Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."

The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters. A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April. The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models. Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.

Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, said in July that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories including the settlements was illegal.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected that opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.

Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.

It added that, according to the United Nations, Israeli authorities have a history of incarcerating Palestinians without charge or trial. A UN Special Rapporteur said in a 2023 report that "the occupied Palestinian territory had been transformed as a whole into a constantly surveilled open-air prison."

Israel rejected the UN's findings. In September Reuters reported that Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.