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About 40 minutes after the scheduled start of the interview, and because of Raisi’s delay, an aide told Amanpour that the president suggested she wear a headscarf. Amanpour said she “politely declined.”
Amanpour, who grew up in the Iranian capital Tehran and speaks fluent Farsi, said she wears a headscarf while reporting in Iran to comply with local laws and customs, “otherwise you wouldn’t be able to work as a journalist.” But she said she would not cover her head to conduct an interview with an Iranian official outside a country where it is not required.
“Here in New York, or anywhere else outside of Iran, I’ve never been asked by any Iranian president — and I’ve interviewed every one of them since 1995 — inside or outside of Iran, I’ve never been asked to wear a headscarf,” she said on CNN’s “New Day” Thursday.
“I very politely declined on behalf of myself and CNN, and on behalf of women journalists everywhere, because it’s not a requirement.”
Iranian law requires all women to wear head coverings and loose clothing in public. The rule has been imposed in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and is mandatory for every woman in the country – including tourists, visiting political figures and journalists.
Amanpour said Raisi’s aide made it clear that the interview — which would be the Iranian president’s first on American soil — would not take place if she did not wear a headscarf. He called it “a matter of respect” given that these are the holy months of Muharram and Safar, and mentioned the “situation in Iran”, alluding to the protests sweeping the country, she added.
The demonstrations appear to be the largest scale of defiance against the Islamic Republic’s rule, which has become tougher since the hardline Raisi government was elected last year. After eight years of moderate rule by Hassan Rouhani, Iran elected Raisi, an ultraconservative head of the judiciary whose views align with those of the country’s powerful cleric and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In Iran, the headscarf is a powerful symbol of a set of personal rules imposed by the country’s spiritual leaders that govern what people can wear, look and do. Over the past decade, protests have erupted as many Iranians have come to resent these restrictions.
Amini’s death fueled an outpouring of long-simmering anger over restrictions on personal freedoms. Surveys and reports in recent years have shown that a growing number of Iranian women do not believe that the hijab or headscarf should be compulsory.
Iranian officials said Amini died after suffering a “heart attack” and falling into a coma, but her family said she had no pre-existing heart disease, according to Emtedad news, Iran’s pro-reform media. Skepticism about officials’ account of her death also sparked public outrage.
CCTV footage released by Iran’s state media showed Mahsa Amini collapsing at a “re-education” center where she was taken by morality police to receive “guidance” on her clothing.
Amanpour had planned to investigate Raizi about Amini’s death and the protests, as well as the nuclear deal and Iran’s support for Russia in Ukraine, but said he had to leave.
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