Iranian filmmaker to give Oscars a miss

Los Angeles, Jan 30 (IANS) Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, whose film "The Salesman" is nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 89th Academy Awards, has said he will not attend the Oscars even if exceptions are made and he is allowed entry into the US.

"I regret to announce via this statement that I have decided not to attend the Academy Awards ceremony alongside my fellow members of the cinematic community," Farhadi said in a statement, reported variety.com.

The statement follows US President Donald Trump's order suspending entry of refugees to the US for 120 days. A 90-day ban was also placed on citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

While Farhadi had originally considered attending the Oscar ceremony here next month, he said: "The possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.

"To humiliate one nation on the pretext of guarding the security of another is not a new phenomenon in history and has always laid the groundwork for the creation of future divide and enmity."

He added: "I hereby express my condemnation of the unjust conditions forced upon some of my compatriots and the citizens of the other six countries trying to legally enter the US and hope the current situation will not give rise to further divide between nations."

Farhadi's film "A Separation" had won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012.