{"id":1144,"date":"2022-09-23T06:59:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-23T06:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diamondtvzambia.com\/staging\/7839\/?p=1144"},"modified":"2022-09-23T07:00:05","modified_gmt":"2022-09-23T07:00:05","slug":"iran-cnn-cancels-interview-with-iranian-president-over-headscarf-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diamondtvzambia.com\/staging\/7839\/iran-cnn-cancels-interview-with-iranian-president-over-headscarf-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"IRAN: CNN CANCELS INTERVIEW WITH IRANIAN PRESIDENT OVER HEADSCARF DEMAND"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour cancelled an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after he demanded she wear a headscarf for their meeting in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanpour pointed out that no previous presidents had requested this when she interviewed them outside Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She <\/a>says a Raisi aide told her it was because of “the situation in Iran”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The death of a woman detained in Iran for allegedly breaking headscarf rules has sparked violent unrest there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahsa Amini, 22, fell into a coma last week, hours after morality police arrested her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officers reportedly beat Ms Amini’s head with a baton and banged her head against one of their vehicles. The police have said there is no evidence of any mistreatment and that she suffered “sudden heart failure”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests, now in their seventh day, have reached 80 other cities and towns in the Islamic Republic. At least 17 people have been killed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interview would have been Mr Raisi’s first on US soil, during his visit to the UN General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanpour said she had been ready to conduct it when one of the president’s aides insisted she covered her hair at Mr Raisi’s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are in New York, where there is no law or tradition regarding headscarves,” she said later on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amanpour said Mr Raisi’s aide had made it clear an interview would not happen if she did not wear a headscarf, saying it was “a matter of respect”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her team walked away from the interview refusing what she called the “unprecedented and unexpected condition”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US anchor later posted a picture of herself without a headscarf in front of an empty chair where Mr Raisi would have sat for their interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Raisi was elected last year and signed an order in August to enforce a new list of restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included the introduction of surveillance cameras to monitor and fine unveiled women or refer them for “counselling”, and a mandatory prison sentence for any Iranian who questioned or posted content against the hijab (headscarf) rules online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restrictions led to an increase in arrests but also sparked a surge in women posting photos and videos of themselves without headscarves on social media – something that has only intensified in the days following Ms Amini’s death. [BBC News]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Veteran CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour cancelled an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi after he demanded she wear a headscarf for their meeting in New York. Amanpour pointed out that no previous presidents had requested this when she interviewed them outside Iran. She says a Raisi aide told her it was because of “the situation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t