In news that will dismay movie lovers, Iran looks set to boycott the 2013 Oscars in the wake of the furore over an anti-Islamic film 'The Innocence Of Muslims'.
Iran's culture minister said today (24 September) that his country will boycott the 2013 Oscars due to the video, which denigrates the prophet Muhamad and was made in the USA
It is a particular shame as last year an Iranian film won an Oscar in the foreign film category in February, the first such Award for the country's film makers.
According to the semi-official ISNA news agency, Mohammed Hosseini said the Islamic Republic would not field an entry for next year's awards due to the low-budget video he dubbed "an intolerable insult to the Prophet of Islam".
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi with the Oscar he won this year for 'A Separation' (Photo: Apega/WENN)
In a move that could cloud the Academy Awards in controversy Hosseini urged other Islamic countries to also boycott.
Iran has an extremely successful recent history in film making, with Asghar Farhadi winning the 2012 gong for best foreign film for his movie 'A Separation' and 2007's 'Persepolis', an animated movie about fleeing the country in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution winning plaudits for its Iranian born creator Marjane Strapi.
The 'Innocence of Muslims' film has already caused worldwide rioting and 51 deaths, while in Iran threats have been made to block Google, the owners of YouTube, the video sharing site where the inflammatory video first appeared.
PHOTOS: The Oscars 2012
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