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Iranian Filmmaker Temporarily Released

A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iranian Filmmaker Temporarily Released

A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo
A general view of Tehran city, in Tehran, Iran June 12, 2020. Ali Khara/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/File Photo

Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, jailed half a year ago over protests related to a building collapse, has been released for two weeks because of health concerns, his lawyer said Wednesday.

Rasoulof, 50, was arrested on July 8 after being accused of encouraging demonstrations that erupted after the deadly collapse of a building in May in the southwestern city of Abadan.

After the tragedy, a group of Iranian filmmakers led by Rasoulof published an open letter decrying "corruption, theft, inefficiency and repression" and urging the security forces to "lay down their arms".

"My client's incarceration has been suspended for two weeks for health reasons," the director's lawyer Maryam Kianersi told AFP, adding that he had been "released on Saturday".

The lawyer added that her client "is now discharged from hospital and is recovering at home".

The release comes as Iran has been gripped by nearly four months of protests triggered by the death in custody of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress code for women.

Iranian authorities say hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed and thousands arrested during the protests which they mostly describe as "riots".

Rasoulof won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival with his anti-death penalty film "There Is No Evil" but was unable to accept the award in person as he was barred from leaving Iran.

His passport had been confiscated after his 2017 film "A Man of Integrity" premiered at Cannes, where it won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the festival.

On July 11, authorities arrested the internationally renowned dissident filmmaker Jafar Panahi upon his arrival at the Tehran prosecutor's office to follow up on Rasoulof's case.

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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
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Iran Threats in UK 'Significantly Increased', Says Intel Watchdog

The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP
The parliamentary committee blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap inside the UK since 2022 - AFP

A UK parliamentary committee on Thursday blamed Iran for at least 15 attempts to kill or kidnap British-based individuals since 2022, saying the threat from Iran had "significantly increased".

London's response has been too focused on "crisis management", said parliament's intelligence and security committee, with concerns over Iran's nuclear program dominating their attention too much.

Tehran swiftly issued a "categorical rejection of the unfounded, politically motivated and hostile allegations".

The committee's claims were "baseless, irresponsible, and reflective of a broader pattern of distortion intended to malign Iran's legitimate regional and national interests", said its London embassy, AFP reported.

The report comes after growing alarm in Britain at alleged Iranian targeting of dissidents, media organizations and journalists in the UK, including accusations of physical attacks.

Iran in March became the first country to be placed on an enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which aims to boost Britain's national security against covert foreign influences.

It requires all persons working inside the country for Iran, its intelligence services or the Revolutionary Guard to register on a new list or face jail.

"Iran poses a wide-ranging, persistent and unpredictable threat to the UK, UK nationals, and UK interests," Kevan Jones, chairman of the watchdog committee, said in the report's conclusions.

"Iran has a high appetite for risk when conducting offensive activity and its intelligence services are ferociously well-resourced with significant areas of asymmetric strength."

Jones said it bolstered this through proxy groups, "including criminal networks, militant and terrorist organisations, and private cyber actors" to allow for deniability.

His committee's report said that while Iran's UK activity "appears to be less strategic and on a smaller scale than Russia and China", it "should not be underestimated".

The physical threat posed had "significantly increased" in pace and volume, and was "focused acutely on dissidents and other opponents of the regime" as well as Jewish and Israeli interests in the UK, it said.

"The Iranian Intelligence Services have shown that they are willing and able -- often through third-party agents -- to attempt assassination within the UK, and kidnap from the UK," the report said.

"There have been at least 15 attempts at murder or kidnap against British nationals or UK-based individuals since the beginning of 2022."

Similarly, security minister Dan Jarvis said in March Britain's MI5 domestic intelligence service had tallied 20 Iran-backed plots "presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents".

The watchdog committee took evidence for two years from August 2021 for its report, a period which saw Tehran implicated in a plot to kill two London-based Iran International television anchors.

In March last year one of the Persian-language outlet's journalists was stabbed outside his London home.

Two Romanian men have been charged in relation to the attack and face extradition to the UK to stand trial.

The counter-terrorism unit of London's Metropolitan Police led the investigation. Iran's charge d'affaires in the UK has said that the Tehran authorities "deny any link" to the incident.