By Pishtaz | 2023-10-17

When prominent Iranian movie director Dariush Mehrjui was stabbed to death on Saturday (October 14) alongside his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, many in Iran noted that the slayings were reminiscent of the "chain murders" of 1998-99.

That string of mysterious assassinations was suspected to be politically motivated, with the killings widely blamed on the Iranian regime.

Mehrjui, 83, was one of the pioneers of Iranian cinema's New Wave movement with his significant 1969 movie "The Cow." His wife, Mohammadifar, 55, was a screenwriter and costume designer.

The judiciary said the couple's daughter found her parents' bodies at their villa near Tehran when she arrived for dinner at around 9pm Saturday.

No sign of forced entry was apparent at the crime scene, according to the police.

Less than a week before the murders, Mohammadifar had told Iranian Etemad daily that her life had been threatened and their villa had been burglarized.

But no official complaint had been filed, per the judiciary.

Mehrjui had repeatedly spoken out against the Iranian regime's censorship but was not overtly at odds with the regime.

His work, despite being censored, was generally not political.

"I don't make political films to promote a particular ideology or point of view, but 'everything is political,"' he once said, while maintaining that "art must not become a propaganda tool."

Reminiscent of 'chain murders'

Heads of all three branches of the government ordered a "thorough and expedited" investigation, and as of Tuesday, 10 suspects had been arrested.

But the murders have sparked speculation in Iran, reminding many people of a string of killings more than two decades earlier known as the "chain murders."

The current case bears a particular similarity to the murders of a pan-Iranist (opposition) politician and founder of the Nation Party of Iran and his wife.

Dariush and Parvaneh Forouhar were stabbed to death at their home on November 21, 1998.

Before them, more than 80 individuals were murdered in car crashes, stabbings and shootings, and in staged robberies, where the victims were found to have been injected with potassium to stimulate heart attacks.

Most of the victims were intellectuals or dissident Iranians -- writers, translators, poets and political activists -- some of whom were kidnapped on the street and later killed.

Although the Iranian regime denied responsibility for the killings, the political nature of the murders was evident, and analysts agreed that the regime or its affiliated agents were responsible.

At the very least, they claimed, the regime had played a major role in planning and carrying out the murders.

In an apparent attempt to curb such comparisons, conservative and regime-affiliated websites have spoken out against speculations about the Mehrjuis' murders and have criticized those who suspect they were politically motivated.

Concerns for personal safety

In addition to fanning fears about engaging in political dissent, the recent murders have left many Iranians concerned about their personal safety.

For years, regime officials have boasted about Iran's "highly secure" status, but many are now wondering if this is true, or if the "chain murders" have resumed.

"If a famous director could be murdered in his own home, how can we, average citizens, trust that the government is keeping us safe and secure?" asked a Tehran-based 45-year-old accountant and mother of three.

"One of the only positive things about this country was that it has, for the most part, been safe in the past two decades -- at least for non-political citizens," she told Pishtaz on condition of anonymity.

"I'm not sure we could still say it is, given this case and other cases of burglary and assault that we hear or read about these days," she added.

Human rights activist and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been in and out of prison since 2010, also expressed concern.

"The news brings back the memory of the murders of Dariush Forouhar and his wife...political or not, the best case scenario is that this regime is unable to establish security [in Iran]," she wrote on Facebook.