Controversy surrounds hijab during Swedish visit to Iran
February 11, 2017
The political engagement and business deals reached by Iran and Sweden during a recent official visit to Tehran were overshadowed by the attire, or lack thereof, of the female members of the Swedish delegation. Indeed, in the aftermath of the visit by the high-ranking Swedish political and business delegation, hard-liners raised a storm in the Iranian media by lashing out at the lack of observance of the Islamic hijab among Swedish women at a party where trade contracts were reportedly signed at the residence of the Swedish ambassador.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven arrived in Tehran on Feb. 10 and was officially received by President Hassan Rouhani at Saadabad Palace. On Feb. 11, Lofven met with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a rare invitation for a Western leader.
“You are known as a man of action and practical steps, and it is expected that you will act in such a way that agreements will not merely remain on paper,” Khamenei said to Lofven, referring to various agreements between Iran and some European governments “that haven’t been realized.” Iran and Sweden signed five memoranda of understanding involving technology, research, roads, information technology and women and family affairs during the Swedes’ visit.
Hossein Shariatmadari, the chief editor of the hard-line Kayhan, wrote Feb. 12, “In an unexpected and questionable occurrence, the ceremony for signing trade contracts between Iran and Sweden was held at the residence of the Swedish ambassador and not our country’s official institutions.” He added, “Pictures of the mentioned ceremony indicate that the female members of the Swedish prime minister’s delegation were in attendance without [wearing] hijabs. It has been said that the Swedish prime minister and the ambassador had insisted that the ceremony be held at the Swedish ambassador’s residence so that these women could attend without [observing the] hijab.”
