Taraneh Alidoosti boycotting Oscars over Trump visa ban

Taraneh Alidoosti will not attend Academy Awards whether or not US President Trump’s ban includes cultural events.

Cast member Taraneh Alidoosti poses on the red carpet ahead of the screening for the film "Forushande" (The Salesman) in competition at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes
File: Taraneh Alidoosti on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival [Yves Herman/Reuters]

The Iranian star of the Oscar-nominated film The Salesman said on Thursday that she would boycott the awards in protest at President Donald Trump’s “racist” ban on immigrants from Muslim-majority nations.

https://twitter.com/t_alidoosti/status/824578972637954048

“Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won’t attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest,” tweeted Taraneh Alidoosti, the film’s 33-year-old leading actress.

Trump is reportedly poised to stop visas for travellers from seven Muslim countries, including Iran, for 30 days.

He told ABC News on Wednesday that his plan was not a “Muslim ban”, but targeted countries that “have tremendous terror”.

The Salesman, directed by acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, is nominated for best foreign language film at the Academy Awards, which take place next month.

Farhadi won an Oscar in 2012 for his film A Separation.

Visa applications from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen are all expected to be stopped for a month under a draft executive order published in the Washington Post and New York Times.

The draft order seeks to suspend the US refugee programme for four months as officials draw up a list of low risk countries.

The Oscars are due to take place on February 26.

Source: AFP

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