Cinema producer slams France for supporting anti-Iran director

Tehran, May 19, IRNA – An Iranian cinema producer slammed France for supporting anti-Iran artists.

Habibollah Kase-Saz made the remarks in reaction to the reading of a message to the Cannes Festival by Iranian director Jaafar Panahi who was recently arrested for security reasons in Tehran.

Kase-Saz said France’s support for Panahi and the reading of his message to the Cannes Festival was just another chapter of West’s worn-out policies against Iran.

Kase-Saz is a major producer in Iranian cinema who has such projects as the highly-popular war drama “Ekhrajiha” (the outcasts) in his record.

He said Panahi, like any other person who would oppose the sacred Islamic system in Iran, received financial and spiritual supports from a number of countries like France and the UK.

He said many world countries check the activities of their artists, never allowing them to freely carry out activities against their national interests, while Iran has been following a policy of not showing harsh reactions towards such people and giving them a chance to correct themselves.

Stressing that it was Iran’s right to confront anyone who would harm the country’s national interests by making opposing films, the producer said the reading of Panahi’s message by the French culture minister and the support he received from France’s foreign minister was a clear case of intervention in Iran’s internal affairs.

He blasted such acts as filthy policies and called for Iran’s reaction to it./end