Iran’s state media said Monday the Oscar for best film awarded to the hostage drama Argo was politically motivated.
The news agencies Mehr and Fars said the political dimension of the prize was dramatically exposed when First Lady Michelle Obama joined the presentation ceremony from the White House.
The two agencies wondered why such an incident never happened in previous Oscar ceremonies and “only happened when an anti-Iran film was awarded.”
Iran had previously said the numerous awards given to Ben Affleck’s film were politically motivated. “The film was neither technically nor artistically worth all the awards and the reasons were more due to its anti-Iran aspects,” Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini said.
“The film is an effort to distort history and impose the U.S. angle,” he added.
Iran is planning to retaliate against Argo with its own big-budget movie, titled Joint Command, about the 1979-80 events and the secret operation that led to the escape of six U.S. diplomatic personnel.
