Iranian actress in nominated film to boycott Oscars over Trump visa ban

Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of director Asghar Farhadi’s Oscar-nominated movie ‘The Salesman’, won’t be attending this year’s ceremony in protest over Donald Trump’s new orders to restrict immigration from many Middle Eastern countries.

Taking to Twitter, she called the proposed visa ban ‘racist’.

The movie is up for best foreign language film, but it’s not known yet whether Farhadi or the film’s male lead Shahab Hosseini will follow her and also boycott the prize-giving.

Farhadi won the Oscar in 2012 in the same category for his film ‘A Separation’, and has received almost universal rave reviews for this latest effort.

It also won Best Actor and Best Screenplay at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Trump’s administration wants to temporarily suspend all refugee and visa programs to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

“You’re looking at people that come in, in many cases, in some cases with evil intentions. I don’t want that,” Trump told ABC News.

“We’re going to have extreme vetting in all cases. And I mean extreme.”

He has come under heavy criticism for the move.

Rabbi Jack Moline, the president of the Interfaith Alliance, said: “The United States has long prided itself as a safe bastion for refugees around the globe facing persecution and strife.

“President Trump is poised to trample upon that great legacy in one of his first major acts in office.”

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