Following the release of the article, Farnaz Fassihi reached out directly to Aydin Aghdashloo’s collaborators, sharing the article and questioning their continued work with him, reportedly with an intimidating tone.
Blogger Afshin Parvaresh, who served as the main source of information for Farnaz Fassihi’s article based on Farnaz’s own account, has a personal vendetta against Mr. Aghdashloo and has waged a consistent smear campaign against him for more than five years. Previously, Parvaresh publicly shared the phone number of Aghdashloo’s son on social media channels, leading to harassment and safety concerns for the family.
He has been found guilty in numerous court cases previously for a variety of crimes, including defamation, and is accused of rape by a reputable Iranian-Canadian human rights activist.
Contrary to allusions made in The New York Times article, the Aghdashloo family has long been criticized and intimidated by the Iranian government, with Aghdashloo being summoned for interrogation for his political views on numerous occasions and his daughter being unable to return to the country because of her human rights advocacy and activism. Mr. Aghdashloo’s image has been banned from Iranian state television (IRIB) for his work and views and he is not allowed to take official positions. The family wields no special power nor connection to the government.
As an art expert, Aydin Aghdashloo has written hundreds of articles, book introductions and reviews. In 2013, Aghdashloo was asked by a former Artistic Associate of Artistic Creations Institution to write an introduction for a book of Qur’an of Ibrahim Sultan, which is a masterpiece of Iranian art belonging to the collection of Museum of Astan Quds Razavi. Mr. Aghdashloo was also asked to give a talk about the same artwork. It is worth noting that the Ibrahim Sultan masterpieces are also present at museums around the world including The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Mr. Aghdashloo also taught a 3-hour watercolour workshop for the same institution. For these short-lived and relatively small cultural activities he was paid the equivalent of $200. This is the extent of Aydin Aghdashloo’s “business ties” to the ruling regime.
Aydin Aghdashloo is widely known for his pro bono work — from free lectures to publications. The membership to his academy costs approximately $100 dollars per semester, and he often let students attend without payment if they couldn’t afford it. Mr. Aghdashloo has chosen a life of simplicity and art. He has rarely appeared at exhibitions or ceremonies, and over the past 20 years he lived and worked in his small basement studio in downtown Tehran. Any assertions implying connections between Aydin Aghdashloo to the “ruling elite” are categorically false.
Mr. Aghdashloo has taught a large number of students in his academy from all walks of life and many of these students were from religious families. The fact that such religious female students with strong beliefs were also a part of his classes shows that the environment of these workshops were conducted in a professional manner with respect to his female students. He has taught thousands of students over the course of his career and never discriminated against his students based on their religious beliefs, social class or family ties.
After Mr. Aghdashloo’s former wife, Hollywood actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, shared a message in support of Mr. Aghdashloo stating that the man she knew would never behave in such a manner, Afshin Parvaresh posted a doctored video of her through his social media that gave the appearance of her standing against women.
The New York Times recently returned two awards for an international story about the Middle East due to false reporting. The editor responsible for this piece, Michael Slackman, is the same editor who oversaw the disparaging Aydin Aghdashloo report by Farnaz Fassihi.
Farnaz Fassihi has a documented history of issuing corrections to her stories involving Iran, including corrections in the Aghdashloo piece.