Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won't attend the Oscars after President Trump's travel ban

Asghar Farhadi, the Oscar-winning director of 'A Separation', has said the he will not be attending the Oscars ceremony next month, after President Trump unveiled a visa ban for citizens from Iran and several other predominantly muslim countries.

Farhadi, whose film 'The Salesman' is nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language movie, released a statement, confirming that he won't be attending the ceremony in February even if he is granted an exception. 

Calling the situation in America 'unjust', Farhadi went on to say: 'The possibility of this presence is being accompanied by ifs and buts which are in no way acceptable to me even if exceptions were to be made for my trip.'

'To humiliate one nation with the pretext of guarding the security of another is not a new phenomenon in history and has always laid the groundwork for the creation of future divide and enmity. I hereby express my condemnation of the unjust conditions forced upon some of my compatriots and the citizens of the other six countries trying to legally enter the United States of America and hope that the current situation will not give rise to further divide between nations,' he told the New York Times. 

'The Salesman' star Taraneh Alidoosti has also confirmed she won't be attending the eighty-ninth Academy Awards, posting this message on social media: 

As a reaction to the news, 'a group of London-based filmmakers is organising a screening of 'The Salesman' in Grosvenor Square opposite the US Embassy on Oscar night' as a 'form of peaceful protest and support for Farhadi'. 

Trump's executive order blocks entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. 

In other news, 100,000 people joined the Women's March On London to protest Donald Trump. Here are seven things you can do to keep up the Women’s March momentum in London