Tehran, IRNA - There are questions on life and death of Iranian documentary filmmaker Nader Talebzadeh, as well as the reason behind the United States' sanctions, on the director of the Messiah and his wife, which are being answered in this article.

Nader Talebzadeh was born on December 25, 1953 in Tehran. His father was a top military official, who lost his job due to criticizing the Pahlavi regime's crackdown on nomads in Fars province; so the father was forced to resign; then, the family left Iran for the United States.

Nader studied English Literature at Randolph-Macon College and cinema at Columbia University in New York City. He said in an interview that he had been studying medicine first; then, he was interested in literature and cinema.

He returned to Iran in 1978 to participate in revolutionary activities. According to Nader, his return to Iran happened, when he was informed of Imam Khomeini's speeches in media outlets.

Talebzadeh was cooperating with American CBS News following his return to Iran. He produced some documentaries on Khuzestan province and takeover of the United States' embassy in Tehran by Iranian students, but his realistic point of view on the latest issue was not welcomed by American media, including CBS.

Nader went to war zones during Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988) to produce documentaries on the war. He made a documentary film on construction of huge engineering project in war zone, which was a 13-kilometer-long path inside Hour al-Azim wetland in 1983.

After Iraq-Iran war, Talebzadeh increased his media activities and tried hard to combine his observations of war and American policy in a bid to produce films. In 1992, he was dispatched to Bosnia and Herzegovina to produce a documentary on Muslims of the war-torn region.

He focused on training a new generation of documentary filmmakers, including Lebanese youths.

In 2007, Talebzadeh produced a movie on the life of Jesus Christ, which was named The Messiah. This movie was a hit worldwide soon, and it was displayed in tens of countries, brought him several awards from different international festivals. Iran's national TV network turned the movie into a series, which hit a record among top series in the country. 

The Messiah was built based on historical documents from the Bible and the Quran, focusing on Jesus' teachings and life.

The director produced a TV program called Raz (Secret) on daily events of Iran and the world, which was broadcast in a decade. Iranian state media Press TV broadcast the program in English language.

Renaissance Before the Renaissance was another documentary movie by Nader Talebzadeh. This documentary film was translated into five languages. In this documentary, the main the question is how Europe could overtake Islamic world in sciences. Nader traveled to Italy to interview with several scholars and academics to make the film.

In 2010, Talebzadeh organized an international conference named New Horizon, where Western elite revealed realities on global arrogance. The conference was repeated in successive years, which made the US establishment very angry to that extent that they announced punishments such as 20 years of imprisonment, sanctions, heavy fines and exit prohibition for certain guests of these conferences. Talebzadeh and his wife, as well as other organizers of the conferences were imposed sanctions upon by the US.

Ammar Festival was another program that Talebzadeh founded and he played the role of secretary of the festival during 11 years of holding the important event. 
Nader was hospitalized for heart failure in January 2022. He was discharged from hospital after awhile, but he ended up in hospital in last days of April because of recurrence of symptoms. 

Nader Talebzadeh passed away April 29, 2022 concurrent with the International Quds Day. 

Speaking on a TV program, Talebzadeh said that he had survived a “biological terrorism” attempt during the Arbaeen (a Shiite religious observance that occurs forty days after the Day of Ashura) gathering in 2016. After his death, his wife reiterated the possibility of such an attempt against him.

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