Daryush Shokof, whose latest film "Hitler's Grave" denounces the hardline Iranian government, was expected in Paris on May 24 but was last seen at a rail station in the western city of Cologne, the National Council of Resistance of Iran opposition group had reported. He was found late Saturday in Cologne, a spokesman for the city's public prosecutor, Guenther Feld, told AFP but declined to provide further details.
The local daily Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger reported that the 55-year-old director was found by three youths on the banks of the Rhine, physically weakened and saying he had been kidnapped.
Feld declined to comment on the allegations, citing a police inquiry, but said the probe was "very general" and not specifically focused on an alleged abduction.
The 55-year-old director, who lives in Germany and directed Anthony Quinn in "Seven Servants" in 1996, has reportedly held a number of hunger strikes demanding political liberalisation in Iran.