Asghar Farhadi

Azadeh Masihzadeh, a former student of Farhadi, claimed that A Hero reproduced elements of her documentary All Winners All Losers, made during a workshop led by Farhadi. Farhadi denied plagiarism, citing an already public news story. In March 2024, his agency announced that the allegations had been rejected following expert examination. A decision by Branch 10 of the Tehran Provincial Court of Appeal dated 15 April 2026 and made public in July 2026 dismissed the damages claim and was presented as the final closure of the case in his favour.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Attribution

Directly implicated

In May 2026, as his film opened the Cannes Film Festival, Farhadi publicly condemned both the repression of demonstrations in Iran and civilian deaths caused by the war. He described the violence as "extremely cruel and tragic", taking a position against abuses by the Iranian state while also rejecting military attacks affecting civilians.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Personally implicated

On 30 April 2026, Nagnath Kharat filed a copyright infringement action in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Asghar Farhadi, Memento Production, Anonymous Content and other defendants. Kharat alleges that the film Parallel Tales infringes his screenplay. He also sought an emergency order preventing exploitation of the film.

State of the evidence

Alleged

Attribution

Accused

Farhadi was long criticised for a stance considered cautious or equidistant towards Iran's authorities. In November 2021, after an official from a documentary organisation linked to the Revolutionary Guards described him as an artist benefiting both from the system and from abroad, Farhadi published a forceful response rejecting any association with the regime and recalling the pressures he said he had faced. In 2022, he again denounced campaigns by extremist media which he believed sought to discredit him.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Directly implicated

In a 2022 interview with Le Monde, Golshifteh Farahani recounted that following her appearance without a veil at the 2008 premiere of Body of Lies, Asghar Farhadi — with whom she had worked — allegedly avoided her, regarded her as at fault and stopped speaking to her. She described this distancing by a filmmaker she admired as personally devastating.

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Directly implicated

Following Mahsa Amini's death and the start of the 2022 protests, Farhadi called on artists, filmmakers, intellectuals and civil rights defenders to publicly support Iranian demonstrators. He praised women's struggle for fundamental rights and condemned the brutality faced by protesters.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Personally implicated

Farhadi announced that he would not attend the 2017 Oscars ceremony in protest against Donald Trump's travel ban targeting Iranian nationals among others. His film The Salesman subsequently won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Attribution

Directly implicated

In September 2010, Iranian authorities suspended Farhadi's permit to film A Separation after he publicly expressed support for directors Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Jafar Panahi, who were then in exile and prison respectively. Farhadi subsequently apologised and was allowed to resume production.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated