TEHRAN -- The Iranian minister of culture and Islamic guidance has demanded that Iranian artists, particularly cineastes, desist from intervening in political issues.

“Some people in the name of their guild have engaged in partisan activities,” Mohammad Hosseini said on the sidelines of a press conference on Thursday.
“It is not appropriate for someone wearing a green wristband to appear on stage one year plus after the episode of the election,” he added.
“Now, it is meaningless if someone wants to revive the dead ‘green movement’,” Hosseini noted.
Hosseini’s remarks refer to what happened during the 14th Iran Cinema Celebration on September 16.
Filmmaker Rakhshan Bani-Etemad wearing a green scarf attended the ceremony while her actress daughter Baran Kowsari wore a green wristband.
The wearing of green articles has been turned into an offense after the color was used as a symbol by supporters of Mir-Hossein Mousavi during the Iranian presidential election in June 2009.
Additionally during the celebration, filmmaker Asgahr Farhadi criticized Iranian cultural policy for isolating a number of prominent cineastes, including Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, Bahram Beizaii, Amir Naderi, and Golshifteh Farahani.
He also wished that something would happen in such a way that would allow them to resume their professional activities in Iranian cinema.
As a consequence of Farhadi’s remarks, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance revoked the production license for his latest film “Separation of Nader and Simin”.
Afterward, Farhadi said that his remarks were misconstrued. He noted that he respects the productions by those filmmakers, but he doesn’t care about their political positions.
“If someone wishes that a counterrevolutionary like Mohsen Makhmalbaf and his family would return to Iran and expect us to roll out the red carpet for them, then this certainly would no longer be merely a cinematic issue,” Hosseini said.
He said that Farhadi is not their problem, adding, “Our problem is those persons who are systematically undermining Islamic values.”
The Iran Cinema Celebration is held annually in September by Iran’s House of Cinema, a guild for Iranian cineastes. There has been an unfriendly relationship between Culture Ministry and the house over the past few years