Iranian director Asghar Farhadi says he will not attend Oscars after Trump’s immigration ban

The award-winning director would not be able to enter the US currently under the orders

Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has issued a statement saying he will not attend the Oscars, even if the US authorities make an exception and let him enter the country for the ceremony.

Donald Trump signed executive orders on Friday (January 27) banning entry to the US for citizens of seven predominately Muslim countries, including Iran. The Department of Homeland Security has since confirmed they will be imposing Trump’s orders.

Farhadi’s film The Salesman is up for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. He previously won the title in 2012 for A Separation.

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“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.

He continued to say that he had been considering attending, but “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 with 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 concluded. “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 United States of America and hope that the current situation will not give rise to further divide between nations.”

Earlier in the statement, Farhadi had said he had previously decided to “attend this ceremony and to express my opinions about these circumstances in the press surrounding the event.” He added that he wasn’t boycotting the ceremony as “I know that many in the American film industry and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are opposed to the fanaticism and extremism which are today taking place more than ever.”

As Variety reports, a spokesperson for the Academy issued a statement yesterday (January 28) saying it was “extremely troubling” that Farhadi and the cast and crew of The Salesman “could be barred from entering the country because of their religion or country of origin”.

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