He lived at the airport for 18 years and was a role model for “The Terminal”: Mehran Nasseri is dead

The life of Mehran Karimi Nasseri was so extraordinary that it became the basis for a film starring two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks: the Hollywood movie “The Terminal” was released in 2004.

The film is about a man who, due to diplomatic turmoil in his home country, has no valid papers and is unable to enter or continue the journey after arriving at the airport.

Such was it for Mehran Nasseri. Born in Iran in 1945, he traveled to Europe for the first time in 1973 to study in England. He later returned to his homeland. There he would have been arrested and deported because of his political views.

He returned to Europe as a refugee. What happened to Nasseri next is unclear. He himself repeatedly made contradictory statements about his career. His official version is that during a stopover in Paris his papers were stolen and he was therefore unable to enter the country.

Nasseri therefore stayed at Paris airport and lived there between 1988 and 2006. In the meantime, he became a minor celebrity, gave numerous interviews and his life was first filmed in France in 1993. Nasseri became world famous when Hollywood bought the rights to a book about his life and produced the movie starring Tom Hanks.

Although Nasseri’s authorities and lawyer have clarified his legal status over the years and he should theoretically be allowed to enter France, he preferred to stay at the airport. He only left him in 2006 due to medical problems. After that, he lived in homeless shelters and hotels that were made available to him from the money he had received through the documentaries about his life.

Just a few weeks ago, Nasseri returned to the airport again – and lived there until his death on November 12, 2022. (con)