Fars News Agency, Iran

Iranians Everywhere Indignant Over '300'

Is the recent movie '300' a form of psychological warfare being waged by the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran? According to this article from Iran's judiciary-controlled Fars News Agency, 'This is a new effort to slander the Iranian people and civilization before global public opinion at a time of increasing American threats against Iran.'

March 15, 2007

Iran - Fars News Agency - Original Article (English)

TEHRAN: The American movie 300 has angered the Iranian people due to its intentional insults to the country's ancient culture. Even amongst non-Iranians, it's a movie seen by many as one of overt animosity toward Iran.

"Hollywood Declares War on Iranians," blared a headline in Tuesday's edition of the [Iran's] independent Ayande-Nou newspaper.

The movie, which raked in $70 million in its opening weekend, is based on a comic-book fantasy version of the 480 B.C. battle of Thermopylae, in which a force of 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army for three days at a mountain pass in Greece.

Even some American reviewers noted the political overtones of the West-against-Iran storyline, and in contrast to the noble Greeks, the way Persians are depicted as decadent, sexually flamboyant and evil.

In Iran the movie hasn't opened, though one paper said bootleg DVDs were already available.

But 300 has still touched a sensitive nerve. Javad Shamghadri, cultural adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said the United States is trying to "humiliate" Iran to reverse historical reality, deflect attention from its wrongdoing and "provoke American soldiers and warmongers" against Iran.

The movie comes at a time of increased tension between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program and the Iraq War.

But aside from politics, the film is seen as an attack on Persian history, which is a source of pride for Iranians across the political spectrum, including critics of the current Islamic government.

State-run television has run several commentaries in the past two days calling the film insulting and has brought on Iranian film directors to point out its historical inaccuracies.

"The film depicts Iranians as demons, without culture, feeling or humanity, who think of nothing but attacking other nations and killing people," Ayande-Nou said in its article Tuesday.

"This is a new effort to slander the Iranian people and civilization before global public opinion at a time of increasing American threats against Iran," it said.

Iran's biggest circulation newspaper, Hamshahri, said 300 is "served the policy of the U.S. leadership" and predicted it will "prompt a wave of protest across the world. ... Iranians living in the U.S. and Europe will not be indifferent to obvious insult."

IDENTITY OF IRANIAN NATION UNDENIABLE

The Islamic Republic's Prosecutor General, Dorri Najaf-Abadi, described the film 300 as a great insult to the Iranian nation, and reminded everyone that no one can raise doubts about the Iranian nation's identity and grandeur.

The Prosecutor General condemned the movie and said that it is an extension of a series of insults hurled at the Iranian nation through the media. But he emphasized that the identity of the Iranian nation is too strong and well-known to be questioned by those who disseminate lies in pursuit of political intentions.

He further called on all Iranian media to inform the world of the Iranian nation's strong protest at this insult to Iranian culture and history.