Dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has said he plans to return to Iran despite being sentenced to a year in prison and a travel ban earlier this week, a report said Thursday.

The 65-year-old is currently touring to promote his latest Oscar-nominated film "It Was Just an Accident", which won top prize at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

"Although I was given the opportunity, even in the hardest years, I never considered leaving my country and being a refugee elsewhere," Panahi told an audience at the Marrakech Film Festival, according to Variety magazine.

"One's country is the best place to live, no matter what problems, what difficulties," he added.

Confirming that he planned to travel home, he said he had "only one passport".

Panahi has been jailed twice before and has a his

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