Washington: The U.S. State Department on Monday issued and then deleted a congratulatory message for an Oscar win by a prominent Iranian director who criticized President Donald Trump's travel ban as "inhumane."

The State Department's official Persian-language Twitter account, @USAdarFarsi, tweeted congratulations to the Iranian people and Asghar Farhadi, director of "The Salesman," after the movie won an Oscar for best foreign-language film on Sunday, according to screenshots of the message circulated on Twitter. Farhadi boycotted the Oscars ceremony to protest Trump's January executive order that temporarily banned entry to the United States by Iranians and citizens of six other Muslim-majority countries, and issued a statement criticizing the order.