Iran’s foreign minister cancels visit to India over women’s protest video

DELHI – Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has cancelled a visit to India, scheduled for next month, over a controversial clip in a promotional video for a regional summit.

The Iranian minister was scheduled to attend the Raisina Dialogue – a geopolitical conference – on March 3 and 4 March – but he cancelled the visit after the organiser refused to delete the shot, which shows Iranian women cutting their hair in protest, from the video.

The protests juxtaposed with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, shows the video.

The Raisina Dialogue is hosted by the think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs of India to discuss regional matters.

Reports said the promotional video of the moot was released a month ago. The video has less than a two-second shot of Iranian women’s protest. The Iranian embassy had requested ORF and India’s foreign ministry to delete the clip but they declined it.  

As a result, the Iranian government has reportedly informed the organisers that Amir-Abdollahian will not attend the dialogue.

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