Trump's visa ban bars Iranian director from attending Oscars

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, who wrote and directed the 2017 Oscar-nominated foreign language film "The Salesman," would not be able to enter the US for the awards under President Donald Trump's recently enacted travel ban.

Trump signed the executive order on Friday afternoon to suspend entry of refugees to the US for 120 days, and imposed an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria.

A 90-day ban was also placed on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, reported Variety.

The 2017 Oscars will take place on February 26.

Farhadi's film "A Separation" won an Academy Award for best foreign film in 2012. "The Salesman" - the title a reference to Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" - tells the story of a young couple who play the lead roles in the play.

On Thursday, after Trump proposed the bans, Iranian star of "The Salesman" Taraneh Alidoosti announced that she would not attend the awards as a boycott.

"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," she wrote.

Although it did not occur under Trump's strict ban, another Academy Award-nominee ran into trouble in 2013.

Emad Burnat, the first Palestinian documentary filmmaker to be nominated for an Academy Award, was detained by immigration with his family at LAX, and released after question.