and are just another example of the evil of imitating Westerners.
Ali-Reza Sajjadpur, the director general of supervision and evaluation in the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, told the Mehr news agency, “The so-called red carpet ceremonies are just copying the practices of Westerners for film openings. We have never approved of using limousines and bodyguards and the flocking of people involved in films. It reminds one of fashion and makeup shows. We 
will not allow the holding of such ceremonies.”
The red carpet treatment has been traditional in Hollywood for decades. But Hollywood didn’t invent the red carpet. It goes back at last 2,500 years to ancient Greece and has been used in the modern world for chiefs of state arriving on state visits. Even the Islamic Republic uses a red carpet for the relatively small numbers of foreign chiefs of state who still visit Iran.
According to Wikipedia, the earliest known reference to walking a red carpet in literature is in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, written in 458 BC. When the title character returns from Troy, he is greeted by his vengeful wife, Clytemnestra, who offers him a red-carpeted path to walk upon. Agememnon sees a plot by his wife since only Greek gods trod on red carpets.
Sajjadpur, who apparently thought Hollywood invented the red carpet, said, “We do not approve of holding ceremonies that are against our indigenous culture or a copying of Westerners.” He didn’t say if he would forbid President Ahmadi-nejad from walking down red carpets anymore.
To enforce his new rule on the Iranian film community, Sajjadpur said those people premiering new films would now have to present their plans for an opening to the Culture Ministry and obtain a license before staging any premieres.
