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.

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

"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.