Iran to boycott Oscars over Innocence of Muslims

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Published time: September 25, 2012 11:49
Edited time: September 25, 2012 16:32

Iran said it will boycott the US Academy Awards in 2013 following the outrage caused by the anti-Islam film mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

­The film ‘Innocence of Muslims’ sparked a wave of anti-US Protests. A statement from Iran’s Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Hosseini issued on Monday said the state would boycott the Oscars as “the organisers' failed to take an official position (against the film)" made in the United States,  the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

Mohammed Hosseini labeled the film "an intolerable insult to the Prophet of Islam," and said that the Islamic state will not send their entry to the competition, ISNA news agency reported. The Minister also called on other Islamic countries to boycott the film competition.

In 2012 Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won an Oscar in the foreign film category for his movie A Separation. It was the very first time Iran received a US Academy Award.

This year Iran was due to send Reza Mirkarimi’s "A Cube of Sugar", a drama about a wedding transforming into a funeral as the groom's relative dies. The movie was to compete in the best foreign film category.

Iranian authorities have long suppressed domestic filmmakers with censorship and persecution, forcing them to become dissidents and calling their work dominated by the Western ideals.

The anti-Islamic amateur-made movie has provoked massive protests leaving at least 51 people dead. Among them was the US Ambassador to Libya.

Iran authorities also have limited access to Google mail and the search engine as a response to the Google-owned YouTube video sharing service allowing the controversial film to be posted on its website.

Filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, winner of the Best Foreign Film Award for 'A Separation,' poses in the press room at the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood, California. (AFP Photo /Getty images/ Jason Merritt)