US-Iranian actor Anthony Azizi says the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has sparked increasing persecution of Iran’s Baha’i minority, including the imprisonment and torture of its members under threat of execution.
“This is a war on human rights, humanity and people who have no rights,” Azizi, a series veteran who regularly airs on American drama series such as CSI, Tehran And Gaumont TV deal, He tells Hollywood Reporter. He is a star in Throw the clouds asidea romantic thriller set in Iran about a young Baha’i woman, played by Parmis Sayhat, who navigates between her faith and systematic persecution.
The indie film from director Mary Darling and co-directors Brie Vedder and Felicia Sobhani will premiere in the US on May 18 at the SVA Theater in New York City, followed by its Los Angeles premiere beginning on June 4 at Lumiere Music Hall. There are additional theater dates scheduled in Chicago and Northern Virginia in June.
It was shot in Athens and doubled in Tehran, Throw the clouds aside Azizi plays Farhad Khosravi, a bookstore owner whose daughter, Leila (Sahhat), attends a secret university aligned with Iran’s Baha’i spiritual faith.
After the attack on the library, Leila meets a young Muslim neurologist, Dr. Sasan Naderi, played by Behtash Fazlali, in the hospital, and they fall in love with each other. The romantic relationship between a Muslim and a follower of the Baha’i faith is tested when Laila learns that Sassan is planning to go to Germany and is arrested, imprisoned, and tortured for being a Baha’i.
A drama about persecution in Iran that resonates with Azizi, who was born in Tehran to a Baha’i family where his relatives lost their jobs, were imprisoned, had their property confiscated, and two of his uncles were executed after they refused to disavow their Baha’i faith.
“My uncles rejected this idea and said it was impossible for us to ever give up what we believe to be the elixir to solve the problems of all humanity. You are asking us to give up what we believe to be the solution. So they did not give up their faith in Bahá’u’lláh and be killed. They were simply killed,” Azizi recalls of his family members’ defiance of their interrogator and their faith in the Iranian founder of the Bahá’í Faith.
The American-Iranian representative says the long-standing persecution of Baha’is in Iran has escalated with current tensions in the Middle East. Azizi added: “Killing people based on their religious beliefs, it is unreal to me that this will happen in 2026.”
While director Darling noted the persecution of Baha’is in Iran since the 19th century, he echoed how the current Middle East crisis has escalated this threat to the religious minority. “Due to the ongoing war in Iran, Baha’is are being used as scapegoats as spies for Israel and spies for America,” she warned.
Darling pointed to the recent imprisonments of Baha’i cousins Bevand Na’imi and Purna Na’imi, who were tortured to force confessions and face possible death sentences. “It’s really terrible,” the director insisted. “They blindfolded them, beat them, put them in a chair and threatened to hang them, execution style, to force them to confess that they were spies. They think they will die.”
Hollywood actors Penn Badgley, Mark Ruffalo and Rainn Wilson released a video on Instagram demanding the release of the Al-Naimi cousins from the notorious Kerman prison.
Other recent imprisonments of Baha’i women include Farnak Zabihi being held in Ter Kola Prison after his arrest on April 8, and Neda Badakhsh, 63, who was sentenced to 10 years in Dolatabad Prison in Isfahan.
Darling, who co-wrote her romantic thriller with fellow Baha’i and husband Clark Donnelly, added the title to her Throw the clouds aside The film was based on a poem by Iranian writer Tahirih about replacing ignorance with the unity of the world, a fundamental tenet of the Baha’i faith. “It talks about removing these clouds, the veil of ignorance that prevents us from the reality around us, and that we are in fact one human family,” the director said.
Darling added that her Persian and English-language drama also hopes to open a broader discussion about religious persecution around the world – from Uyghurs in China and Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar to Christians and Yazidis in the Middle East. To that end, it is looking forward to upcoming theatrical runs in the US that will lead to wider distribution of the product Throw the clouds aside After continuous discussions.
“We consider this a very important story and we know that there are distributors who are interested in being on the right side of history on this,” she added.
