Actress says she never expected petrol price hike
- By AFP -
- Dec 06, 2019
Exiled Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani has condemned what she called a “massacre” in her homeland, which has been rocked by a wave of deadly protests.
Farahani, Iran’s first actress to star in a Hollywood film since the 1979 revolution, told AFP in an interview that the Iranian people were “suffering economically, politically and democratically.”
Demonstrations erupted in Iran on November 15 against a surprise hike in petrol prices by as much as 200 percent.
Iran has yet to give overall figures for the number of people killed or arrested when security forces moved in to quell the unrest that saw buildings torched and shops looted.
“It’s a massacre, with hundreds of people dead,” Farahani said on the sidelines of the Marrakesh International Film Festival.
“I’ve learned not to dream when it comes to Iran. We cannot guess what will happen tomorrow.
“I didn’t expect the price of petrol to triple overnight. At the same time, I know that the people are suffering economically, politically and democratically. And when people suffer, it can explode quickly,” she said.
Iran has dismissed the high death tolls reported by foreign sources as “utter lies” and has so far confirmed only five dead — four security force personnel killed by “rioters” and one civilian.
Farahani — daughter of the acclaimed director Behzad Farahani — upset the Iranian authorities when she appeared in Ridley Scott’s spy thriller “Body of Lies” in 2008 alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
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She went into exile, first in the United States and then in France where she now lives.
“I realised that I preferred being in Europe, in the middle of the world,” she said.
“Being in exile is like being in an ocean. Your only choice is to swim or you’ll die.”
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