Prominent Iranian satirist and author Ebrahim Nabavi committed suicide in Maryland on Tuesday night, his family said in a statement to Iran International.

"Our father took his own life last night in Silver Spring, Maryland. Over the past decade, our father was suffering from depression and missed Iran, and the impossibility of living in his homeland weighed heavily on him," the statement said on Wednesday.

"He passed away without ever being able to come to terms with his forced exile away from Iran," the family added in the statement.

Born on November 13, 1958, Nabavi was a prominent stand-up comedian and satirist who left Iran for France on April 9, 2003, after serving multiple prison terms due to his activism and criticism of the Islamic Republic.

During his more than two decades in exile, Nabavi worked with several news websites and TV channels, including Voice of America, Zamaneh Radio, Rooz Online, and Gooya.