LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Directed by Iranian Asghar Farhadi, "The Salesman" won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Oscars here on Sunday.

"The Salesman" tells a story of a couple of performers whose relationship began to turn sour during their performance of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman."

Because of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration issued in January, which temporarily bars citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries to enter the country, Farhadi, who won an Oscar in 2012 for his film "A Separation," was unable to attend the ceremony.

Female Iranian-American engineer Anousheh Ansari accepted the Oscar for Farhadi, and read a statement from him.

"I am sorry that I am not here with you tonight," the statement said, "my absence is out of respect for the people of my country, and those of other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhuman law that bans the entry of immigrants into the United States."