Iran to produce movie to respond to “Argo”

Iran’s Art Bureau plans to produce a movie in response to “Argo”, the Warner Bros. drama about the 1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.
“The movie entitled ‘The General Staff’ is about the 20 American hostages who were delivered to the United States by the revolutionaries,” director Ataollah Salmanian told the Persian service of MNA on Tuesday.

“This film, which will be a big production, should be an appropriate response to the ahistoric film ‘Argo’,” he added.

He used eyewitness accounts to write the screenplay for the film, which he will also direct.

Salmanian said that shooting would begin next year if the necessary funding is provided by the Art Bureau, which is affiliated with the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization.

Directed by Ben Affleck, “Argo” tells the story of six American diplomatic personnel who manage to escape to the official residence of the Canadian Ambassador after the American embassy in Tehran was occupied by Iranian revolutionaries in 1979.

In 1980, a joint CIA-Canadian secret operation was organized to infiltrate Iran and extract the six Americans out of revolutionary Iran.

In Iran, “Argo” was officially viewed as an “anti-Iranian” film after it began premiere in the U.S. in October 12.

Screenwriter Farhad Tohidi previously announced his plan to write a screenplay for a TV series about the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.

He said that he would see “Argo” to complete his research for writing the series entitled “The Broken Paw”.