Iranian actor Elnaaz Norouzi has been a vocal critic of the current regime in her home country. The actor made headlines earlier this week after she celebrated the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In a new interview, the Sacred Games-fame actor has said her opposition is to the regime and not the country as a whole, and added that she can’t return home till the current government is in power.
Elnaaz Norouzi says she cannot return to Iran
In an interview with Bombay Times, Elnaaz clarified her stance on Iran and why she supported the US and Israel-led assassination of Khamenei. “When we speak about Iran, I would like to differentiate between the Islamic Republic, which has occupied the country and the people of Iran. The majority of the Iranian people are smart and educated, and their beliefs are not the same as those of the Islamic Republic. At one point, Iran had a great relationship with Israel. If you see Cyrus the Great, the man who wrote the first human rights in the world ever, he was Persian, and he freed the Jews from Babylon. We even had a great relationship with the USA during the time of Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi). It is just the Islamic Republic that is constantly saying that it wants to wipe Israel off the map. A month ago, many Iranians who protested against this regime were killed.”
Elnaaz was born in Iran in the early 90s, but moved to Germany with her family when she was 8. She began her modelling career in Europe before moving to India in her 20s. But the actor has not returned to Iran in a decade. She says she cannot now. She said, “I can’t set foot in Iran. If I do, I think they will kill me. I couldn’t go to Iran because of what happened during the 2022 movement, where they killed Mahsa Amini (a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman), whose death in police custody in September 2022, ignited widespread protests. Arrested by the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly, her death became a symbol of resistance against oppression. People went on the roads and said, We don’t even want this f****** hijab, this is not ours. Back then, I spoke out against Khamenei and the regime, and my family got really worried for my safety. If people die in this war, I’m going to blame the Ayatollah because people have come out multiple times saying we do not want you, and they did not leave. It is a dictatorship.”
Who is Elnaaz Norouzi?
Elnaaz made her acting debut in a Pakistani film in 2017 before appearing in the two seasons of Sacred Games in 2018-19. She has since appeared in shows such as Abhay, Made in Heaven, and Hai Junoon, as well as films such as Jugjugg Jeeyo and Mastii 4. In 2023, she made her Hollywood debut in Kandahar, appearing alongside Gerard Butler and Ali Fazal. Elnaaz currently appears as a co-host on Wheel of Fortune alongside Akshay Kumar.
