Iranian celebrities lend their star power to protests

Iranian artists, athletes and media personalities have lent their voices to anti-government protests in the Islamic republic over the accidental downing of a passenger plane that killed 176 people.

Among them have been actors vowing to boycott a film festival, a star volleyball player who said he saw "no light in the future", and a former state TV presenter who apologised "for 13 years of lying" to her viewers.

The latest demonstrations broke out after the armed forces admitted they had accidently shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet on January 8 amid high tensions with arch foe the United States.

The acknowledgement, after days of denial by the government, was met with an outpouring of grief over the loss of life and anger at the breach of trust, with demonstrators calling their rulers "liars".

They were soon joined by a string of high-profile figures from the worlds of arts, sports and media.

A slew of actors and others withdrew from April's Fajr International Film festival, which is held each year to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Over three million people within days watched a clip posted by one actor, Navid Mohammadzadeh, which also garnered plaudits from other Iranian stars.

The short take from his 2018 film "Sheeple" touches on a tough choice many dissidents face: stay and push for change despite the risks, or leave and join Iran's chronic brain drain.

"Now you see that I haven't left this wreck of a place," Mohammadzadeh's character tells his abusive father in the short video.

"I have stayed and will blacken your life. I stayed to get my rights."
"Today, in our desperate and sad mood, we can't celebrate this victory and achievement of a dream that we have worked toward for years," he said. "Our despair and sadness are not only because our fellow citizens are mourning, but because we see no light in the future."