Farrokhnejad's response to Kayhan newspaper about Ukraine: You have shown that you have neither religion nor honor

In response to a recent article in Kayhan newspaper criticizing his decision to return an award from the Moscow Film Festival, actor Hamid Farrokhnejad protested the newspaper's silence on the Uyghur genocide in China.

He also emphasized on his personal Instagram page that he did not receive any money from the festival.

On Monday, March 6, Mr. Farrokhnejad announced that he would return the Moscow Film Festival award he received for the film "The Big Drum Under the Left Foot" by sharing a video on his personal Instagram page condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which he called "barbaric."

In response to Mr. Farrokhnejad's action, the Kayhan newspaper, which is close to the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, wrote in a critical note on Tuesday that the actor took such action to "prevent his son's American green card from being revoked" and asked him to "also return the $20,000 cash prize from this festival, taking into account the inflation rate."

Mr. Farrokhnejad also reacted to this note on Thursday, writing on his Instagram that he had not received any money from the Moscow festival and called such criticism "personalizing the debate" and an "old technique" to "distort the essence of the matter."

He also wrote: "You who took the leash off your cyber wild animals and sent your virtual hired prostitutes to my page, if you had the honor, you would have criticized Master Putin for the genocide of Muslim Chechens, and taken a stand against Master China for the genocide of Uyghur Muslims. You have shown that you have neither religion nor honor!"

In 2005, Hamid Farrokhnejad received the Georgis Moghaddis Award and Statuette for Best Actor at the Moscow International Film Festival for the film "The Big Drum Under the Left Foot" about the Iran-Iraq War.

Mehdi Hashemi, a film, theater, and television actor, was among other artists who released a video in recent days condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Despite global condemnation of Russia's recent invasion of Ukraine, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been one of the few governments whose officials have made similar statements supporting Russia's move and declaring the West and America to be the main culprit.

Source: Radio Farda