In an amazing and quite frankly shocking national reaction, the Iranian newspaper ‘Ayandeh-no’ ran the headline “Hollywood declares war on Iranians” and cultural advisor Javad Shangari called the film “part of a comprehensive U.S. psychological warfare aimed at Iranian culture”.
It’s now pretty unlikely that 300 will get a cinematic release in Iran and there’s even a web-based petition to Warner, which has amassed some 35,000 signatures damning their “irresponsible, unethical and unscientific actions” and demanding a “review and a quick apology from the responsible people”.
The problem obviously arises from the fact that Iranians are descended from Persians – the group who are on the receiving end of most of Gerard Butler’s SPARTAing. For more of what Iranians had to say, go HERE.