TEHRAN, Sept 2 (News Agencies) - A top Iranian female movie director arrested last week on charges of supporting anti-revolutionary groups in her latest film was released from jail Sunday, the state IRNA news agency reported.
Tahmineh Rezayi Milani was "released Sunday afternoon with a guarantee from deputy culture minister Mohammad Hassan Pezeshk, who is in charge of the ministry's film affairs," it said.
Milani was arrested last Sunday and charged with supporting anti-revolutionary groups in her latest film, "The Hidden Half".
She was accused of "abusing the arts as a tool for actions which will suit the taste of counter-revolutionary and 'mohareb' [war against God] groups," IRNA said.
On Saturday, moderate President Mohammad Khatami came out in Milani's defense, saying the culture ministry, which must authorize all books, CDs, tapes and films, is responsible.
The arrest of Milani "shouldn't have happened," Khatami said at a Tehran press conference.
"Her film was authorized by the culture ministry and if there's a problem, it's the government and the minister who must respond," he said.
"I hope this problem will be resolved as soon as possible because these kinds of incidents can add to the insecurity in the world of culture and art," the popular president said.
On Thursday the reformist Hambastegi daily cited an unnamed culture ministry official saying her arrest was based on a "misunderstanding which we are trying to resolve."
The film tells the story of a married woman who reminisces about a romantic affair with a revolutionary after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
