Everything was prepared for the Iranian president to talk with the presenter, however, he suddenly decided to cancel the interview when the woman refused to wear a veil.
An uncomfortable moment lived the journalist and presenter of the international area of CNN, Christiane Amanpourafter the Iranian President Ebrahim Raisidecided not to appear on screen because the communicator refused to wear a veil.
According to the signal itself, the interview had been planned in advance and it was agreed that the president would speak with the journalist in the middle of his visit to New York, United States, by the UN Assembly.
Nevertheless, Raisi arrived almost 40 minutes late and through an assistant he would have asked Amanpour to wear a veil or a headscarf just minutes before the dialogue begins.
Before the request, the journalist would have “politely refused”, they said from the channel. Nevertheless, the Iranian president did not take this decision in the best way and chose to cancel the interview and leave.
The British communicator, who grew up in Tehran, the capital of Iran, excused her decision that since she was working outside the mentioned country, wearing a veil was not mandatory.
“I wear a headscarf while reporting in Iran to comply with local laws and customs, otherwise I would not be able to work as a journalist”, said. But he stated that he would not do the same when he is in another country where this is not a requirement.
“Here in New York, or anywhere else outside of Iran, no Iranian president has ever asked meand I’ve interviewed every single one of them since 1995, whether inside or outside of Iran, they’ve never asked me to wear a headscarf,” she told CNN.
For his part, President Ebrahim Raisi argued that his decision to abandon the interview in the face of Christiane Amanpour’s refusal was due to the fact that he thought “a matter of respect”since these are the holy months of Muharram and Safar.
According to what was reported by the media, the Iranian president was expected to refer to the death of Mahsa Amini in the interviewa woman reportedly taken into custody after morality police saw her wearing a hijad incorrectly.
This situation and the strange causes of her death, raised a horde of demonstrations in the aforementioned country, where women take off and burn their hijab, and cut their hair in public.