Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez (center) works with trapped American diplomats on ... more >Iran’s state-run media dismissed the award-winning “Argo” as little more than propaganda, calling it an “advertisement for the CIA” and characterizing it as offensive to Muslims.
Iranian Culture Minister Mohammad Hosseini, meanwhile, said Hollywood was guilty of “distort[ing] history” with the film, according to a report in The Times of Israel.
SEE RELATED: ‘Argo’ wins best picture on scattered Oscar night
The film portrays Iran’s 1979 taking of 52 American hostages, a handful of whom launched a daring escape with the aid of the Canadian ambassador. The escape — which came by way of disguising some of the Americans as a film crew — was the main subject of the movie.
Tehran City Council member Masoomeh Ebtekar, who occupied the U.S. Embassy during the 1979 event, called the film’s portrayal of mob violence an exaggeration, The Times of Israel says.
The film is not being shown in Iran, but many have accessed bootleg versions of it online and via DVD networks, The Times of Israel says.
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Cheryl Chumley is a continuous news writer for The Washington Times. Previously, she was part of the start-up team for The Washington Times’ digital aggregation product, Times247. She’s also a 2008-2009 Robert Novak journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation. She can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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