TEHRAN -- Iranian Deputy Culture Minister for Cinematic Affairs Javad Shamaqdari has sent a letter to Cannes Film Festival President Gilles Jacob, criticizing the Cannes organizers’ decision to expel Danish director Lars Von Trier over his inappropriate remarks.

“Surely you remember that the Cannes festival was established with the aim of struggling against fascists,” Shamaqdari wrote in the letter published by Persian media outlets on Monday.
“After 64 years, it is sad to see the traces of fascist behavior in the Cannes organizers’ decision to expel one of the acclaimed European filmmakers,” he added.
“Perhaps it is necessary to provide a new definition of freedom of speech for encyclopedias. Otherwise, the behavior Cannes exhibited toward Von Trier by forcing him to apologize several times causes everybody to recall the churches’ medieval treatment of Galileo,” he explained.
“The Cannes Film Festival left a dark stain on its history,” Shamaqdari noted.
The organizers of the Cannes Film Festival expelled Danish director Lars Von Trier on Thursday after he jokingly called himself a Nazi and Hitler sympathizer.