Masha Amini’s killing has once again sparked political resentment toward Iran in the public eye. This time, it happened when CNN’s Christiane Amanpour declined to cover her head during an interview with Ebrahim Raisi, the leader of Iran.
She denied Raisi’s request that she wear the hijab, thus the meeting—which was supposed to happen this Wednesday, September 21 in New York at the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly—was postponed.
Due to the recent widespread protests in Iran over the death of Masha Amini, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish woman from the northwest city of Saqez, the demand, along with her categorical refusal to wear the hijab for Raisi, has turned into a bone of political conflict for both sides.
Amini, also known as Jina Amini or Zhina Amini, died on September 16th, the day after she was taken into custody by Iranian Morality Police on charges of disobeying the legislation mandating women to cover their bodies with loose clothing and their hair with a scarf.
She allegedly fainted at an Iranian “re-education” detention facility and spent three days in a coma before passing away from a heart attack or brain hemorrhage, according to Iranian authorities.
According to later reports, the guy allegedly died from a brutal beating by police rather than a heart attack or stroke.
Raisi has made an effort to convince the outside world that he will not permit Iran to “trample on human rights,” but he has not taken any action to stop the violence against protestors. However, because the Iranian President is a hardliner, his statements haven’t had much of an impact on the growing international condemnation.
