Iranian Actress to Boycott Oscars Over Trump’s ‘Racist’ Visa Ban

iran authorities
Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-nominated film The Salesman, said she would boycott the 89th annual Academy Awards over President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to suspend visas for citizens from some African and Middle Eastern countries.

Alidootsi called Trump’s visa ban, which includes the country of Iran, racist on Twitter.

“Trump’s visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not,I won’t attend the  2017 in protest,” the actress wrote Thursday.

https://twitter.com/t_alidoosti/status/824578972637954048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The actress elaborated on her position in a statement to the New York Times.

“I decided not to go even if I could, because it hurts me deeply to see ordinary people of my country being rejected for what might be their legal right to have access to their children abroad or to their school classes as students,” Alidoosti told the paper.

I’m sure the United States has also benefitted many times from Iranian immigrants and people who have worked there and served that country,” she added. “So it’s not acceptable to me to respect a state that does not respect the people of my country.”

President Trump has signaled that he would sign an executive order enforcing a short-term visa ban from foreign countries known to be hotbeds of Islamic terrorism.

If the President’s order is enacted, it would affect potential immigrants and visitors from seven Muslim countries — Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Sudan.

The Salesman was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Oscars take place on February 26 and will air on ABC.

 

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson

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