As the Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday, the crowds gathered in the French city to see the annual influx of stars. High on the list were Meryl Streep and fellow actress Demi Moore; so too were the legendary directors Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. But the most anticipated person was one few European filmgoers would recognise.

The Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof is due to present his film The Seed of the Sacred Fig. A candidate for the festival's top prize, the Palme d'Or, it tells of a judge in TehranThe capital of Iran. who becomes paranoidBelieving, often with no solid basis, that you are being harassed, betrayed or persecuted by others. as a result of the country's growing political protests.

Whether Rasoulof will make it to the festival remains to be seen. He is currently in hiding from Iran's secret police after fleeing the country.

"I am grateful to my friends, acquaintances, and people who kindly, selflessly, and sometimes by risking their lives, helped me get out of the border and reach safety after a difficult and long journey," he wrote in a social media post on Monday.¹

Rasoulof has been under pressure from the Iranian government to withdraw his film, but has refused to do so. He was accused of making it without permission and filming actresses without hijabsHead coverings worn by some Muslim women. . Last week he was sentenced to eight years in prison, floggingBeating someone with a whip or stick. , a fine and the confiscation of his property. Other people involved in the film have been banned from leaving the country.²

Rasoulof has a long record of persecution by the authorities. In 2010 he was given a six-year jail sentence, later reduced to one year. In 2017 he had his passport confiscated. In 2019 he was given a year in prison after making a film about corruption in Iran.

The sentence was repeated in 2020. In 2022 he was jailed yet again, but released for health reasons after eight months.

Even now he cannot consider himself safe. Ayatollah KhameiniThe supreme leader of Iran since 1989. He was born in 1939. 's regime is ruthless in dealing with its opponents, both at home and abroad, and many brave people who have stood up to it have paid with their lives.

Two weeks ago the BBC uncovered evidence that a 16-year-old girl had been sexually assaulted and killed by members of the Iranian security services. Nika Shakarami was arrested while taking part in a protest in 2022 over the death in police custody of Mahsa AminiA 22-year-old woman who died after being arrested by Iran's strict morality police in September 2022, sparking widespread protests. . Nika's body was found nine days later.

Last month Pouria Zeraati, a presenter at an anti-government TV station based in Britain, was attacked and stabbed on a London street. Police say that three of his attackers left the country a few hours later.

According to MI5, the Iranian government has been behind at least 15 plots to murder and kidnap people in Britain. Last August the then home secretaryIn Britain, they are responsible for national security, immigration and policing. , Suella Braverman, was reported to see its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the biggest threat to Britain's national security.³

Iran has added to the instability in the Middle East by supporting rebels and terrorists such as the HouthisAn Islamist rebel group that controls a large part of Yemen. They are allies of Hamas in Gaza. in Yemen and HezbollahA militant organisation based in Lebanon, classified in the UK as a terrorist group. It has made direct attacks on Israel and is believed to have been responsible for assassinating Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. in Lebanon. It has also supplied Russia with drones to attack Ukraine.

Is Iran a menace to the world?

Yes: It has been described as "the world's most pre-eminent exporter of violence". It has threatened to annihilate Israel, and the possibility that it might develop a nuclear bomb is a major worry.

No: It knows it is not strong enough to take on major powers directly, which is why most of its fighting is done by foreign militias. Its recent failed attack on Israel was a measure of its weakness.

Or... The government is chiefly a menace to its own people: hundreds are reported to be executed each year. So many of its resources are used to repress dissidentsPeople who publicly disagree with or criticise an authority or government, especially an oppressive one. that it cannot afford foreign enemies.