Movie makers condemn blasphemous film targeting Holy Prophet of Islam

Taking part in an IRNA-arranged round-table discussion on the movie were Hollywood director and a senior official of Real Night Company, Bahram Heidari, US film director Scott Frank, Canadian actor Barry Green, and wife of Heidar, Melissa Carter, an American woman, originally from Kentucky, who has converted to Islam.

The movie directors all condemned the valueless sacrilegious movie as being being Islamphobic in nature.

All the guests called for cultural links between Iran and the US and said necessary culture should be created in the US for accepting other religions.

On coincidence of the film’s screening and the 9/11 anniversary, Frank said release of the film cannot be accidental, showing involvement of a special political tendency in the US.

Green said any film does not represent the general attitude of film makers. It has nothing to do with film makers and even the government.

Heidari said as a person living in the US for 33 years, he believed the film aimed to tarnish the image of the US President Barack Obama, who has recently confronted Netanyahoo of Israel for his support for Mitt Romeny.

“Obama has not agreed to Israeli attack on Iran and voiced opposition to Tel Aviv's interference in the US politics.”

Frank said, “We have come to Iran to work and cooperate and build a link between people of Iran and the US. That’s a serious task undertaken by all of us.”

Asked about American people’s reaction to the movie, all agreed that Americans have opposed it.

Green said, “The film is not worth watching. Professionally speaking, it is weak and rubbish. It is the brain child of an insane. I guess the American people have the same reaction to the film that other people across the world have.”

Frank said pictures have been posted on Facebook condemning the act. “We are not representatives of such an attitude.”

Heidari said, “We oppose it … we are not pleased with it and can lobby against it. No one can make film against our prophet, our religion or any other religion.”

Melissa Carter said any one provoking the public or making them resentful can be brought to justice and condemned.

Heidari said all Americans and Canadians residing in Iran condemn the movie.

Scott said cultural links between Iran and the US will be helpful because people of the US and Iran are not separate from each other.

In Iran people and students have condemned the sacriligious act.

Greek riot police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse Muslim protesters who clashed with officers Sunday during a rally against the film produced in the United States that denigrates Islam's Prophet Muhammad. No injuries were reported.

A general strike in Bangladesh shut down schools, transportation and businesses, while a few hundred people peacefully marched in Pakistan. Iranian students burned flags in Tehran to protest the recent publication of lewd caricatures of Muhammad by a French satirical weekly.

In Athens, six people were detained during the demonstration at a central square, police said. About 600 people attended the rally, which featured heated speeches, but was mostly peaceful.

The crowd then wanted to march to the U.S. Embassy, which is about two miles from Omonia Square. Some tried to break through police lines several times, but riot officers pushed them back.

The violence occurred at the end of the rally, when small groups of protesters threw objects at police. Three cars were damaged and three storefronts smashed.

Banners were displayed in English, denouncing the film and called on the United States to hang the filmmaker.

The amateurish film has sparked violent protests throughout the Muslim world for nearly two weeks. The violence linked to protests over the film has resulted in the deaths of at least 49 people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.

About 300 Iranian students protested against the caricatures that appeared in the French weekly. They rallied in front of the French Embassy in Tehran, burning French, U.S., and Israeli flags and chanting "death to France" and "down with the U.S." They called for the expulsion of the French ambassador.

In Bangladesh, schools and businesses were closed and transportation was disrupted across the south Asian country as hard-line Islamic groups protesting the film enforced a general strike. The strike was called in response to police action Saturday against supporters of the groups that rallied in the capital, Dhaka, to denounce the film.

About 300 Christians, Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims peacefully rallied in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, to protest the film.

"There will be no peace in the world until we respect each other's religion," Sikh leader Deedar Singh said.

The protesters marched just over a half mile on Islamabad's main avenue near the parliament building.

The flare-ups have had an effect on the U.S. presidential race. As the anti-American protests erupted this month, Republican Mitt Romney called the president's handling of the situation "disgraceful" and decried a lack of U.S. leadership in the region.

President Obama, in an interview aired Sunday on CBS's 60 Minutes, defended his foreign policy record, and said that "If Gov. Romney is suggesting that we should start another war, he should say so."

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