TEHRAN – Mohammad Atebbai, the director of Iranian Independents, a company marketing Iranian independent feature and documentary films, has said that the sanctions reimposed by the United States on Iran have had serious effects on Iranian companies active in overseas film distribution.

The U.S. Treasury has reissued sanctions targeting Iranian banks.

Speaking to the Persian service of ISNA on Sunday, Atebbai noted, “The inability to transfer money is the fundamental problem facing the companies. It has paralyzed a number of our friends and even many state-run companies.”

He also said that the DHL Express suspended its services in Iran last week due to the sanctions. “The company had given Iranian film distributors the most reliable mail service by which they sent copies of their films to overseas distributors and festivals,” he added.

“Under these conditions, I don’t know how Iranian distributors can continue working in the international arena,” Atebbai lamented.

He also said that those Iranian filmmakers who plan to attend foreign film events have a few problems with the travel agencies assigned by European embassies in Tehran to receive visa applications.

He accused the agencies of taking bribes to expedite visa processing time. 

Previously, the embassies directly accepted visa applications.

Photo: Iranian Independents director Mohammad Atebbai in an undated photo.

MMS/YAW