Mehran Modiri

Mehran Modiri (Persian: مهران مدیری; born 7 April 1967) is an Iranian director, producer, actor and singer. He is considered to be the leading artist in social satire in Iran. His various series, which have been broadcast through IRIB have set records in terms of viewership (an estimated 95% viewership when he is on-air), as well as making him a popular personality among the masses. His artistic career began in his teenage years acting in local plays. He then entered the world of radio and television in the early 1990s, actively writing scripts for and participating in various comedy skits during the annual Norooz comedy television shows broadcast by the IRIB.

He achieved real stardom with his creation of Pavarchin (Tiptoeing), in which he won numerous awards for directing and starring in the picture. He tasted success again when he directed and starred in Noghtechin (Ellipsis), and Jayezeye Bozorg (The Grand Prize), which became major hits on television in Iran. Later, he followed Pavarchin's storyline with the making of Shabhaye Barareh which became his most popular television program yet; the show remained incomplete after it was criticized for offending rural people. This resulted in an abrupt end to the show after 92 episodes without completely explaining the Barareh history. He starred in two full-length films and had planned on entering the film industry once again after Shabhaye Barareh was completed. However, he instead produced and released his next project, the television series Baghe Mozaffar.

One of his most popular tv series was The man with a thousand faces, broadcast in 2008.

Also, his shows have been popular among the Iranians because of expressing the problems of the society in the form of comedy, as he believes this genre has the most effectiveness on people.

Modiri has also released a music album and performed in a number of concerts. He is also a veteran of the Iran–Iraq War.

In 2009 Modiri was named by Newsweek as one of the 20 people who dominate power and public discourse in Iran. Between 2015 – 2018 Modiri was mostly seen on Nasim TV with his program Dorehami.

In order to condemn the Death of Mahsa Amini and support the nationwide protests, Mehran Modiri announced by publishing a video on his Instagram that none of the Iranian television channels have the right to publish his image in television advertisements and periodicals. A few days after these events, the Iranian government  announced that Mehran Modiri has been banned from leaving the country, however, Iranian news agencies have announced that Mehran has left Iran.  An Iranian Twitter user announced that Mehran had left Tehran for the UAE, but his final destination was not Dubai.