ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Internationally recognized Kurdish artist Mozaffar Shafeie, the husband of veteran Kurdish politician and diplomat Bayan Sami Abdulrahman, died after a battle with illness on Wednesday, prompting condolences from the Kurdistan Region’s leaders.

Shaffeie, a renowned Kurdish artist from western Iran (Rojhelat), died in a hospital in Turkey after battling cancer. He was the husband of Abdulrahman, a former Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative in the US and UK and current senior advisor to Prime Minister Masrour Barzani. 

Shafeie came from a prominent Kurdish family in Mahabad and left Iran before the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979. 

He later studied theater in London, where he met his wife, Abdulrahman.

The renowned Kurdish artist gained international recognition for his work in film and television, appearing in productions including Poirot, Wire in the Blood, House of Saddam, Triage, and several other films and TV series. 

He also dubbed Jeremy Clarkson’s voice into Farsi in the Persian version of Top Gear, broadcast by BBC Persian. 

"With great sorrow, we have received the news of the passing of theater artist Mozaffar Shafeie, your respected husband. I extend my condolences and deepest sympathies to you and your esteemed family," President Masoud Barzani said in a statement addressed to Abdulrahman.

Prime Minister Barzani expressed his condolences to Abdulrahman during a phone call, with the senior adviser to the premier thanking Barzani for his condolences and support, according to a KRG statement. 

Shafeie was also known for his close ties to Abdulrahman Qasimlou, the late leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), before Qasimlou's assassination in 1989. In addition to his artistic career, Shafeie worked for a time as a journalist and translator with BBC Persian.

Shafeie and his wife, Abdulrahman, later relocated to the US after she was appointed the KRG’s representative to Washington. 

The couple returned to Erbil in recent years, where they had been residing.