Several Iranian media outlets are saying that the Iranian Authorities are planning on suing Hollywood because of Argo’s “unrealistic portrayal” of their country, according to The Associated Press.
Outlets including pro-reform Shargh Daily said that French lawyer Isabelle Countant-Peyre is currently in Iran for talks about how to take this lawsuit further. This is not the first controversial choice made by Countant-Peyre who was the lawyer for Venezuelan-born terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez – best known as Carlos the Jackal.
Iranian officials claim that Argo is “pro-CIA” and “anti-Iranian propaganda” after a group saw the film in a closed audience screening in Tehran yesterday. Local movie critics were also in attendance.
The movie, which sees American hostages escape from the besieged U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, was critically acclaimed upon its release and earned the Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing awards at this year's Oscars.
Argo features Affleck (The Town), Bryan Cranston (Godzilla), Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), John Goodman (Monsters University), Victor Garber (Titanic) and Clea DuVall (The Faculty) and was released on DVD last Monday. Read Martin Deer’s review here.