Swiss envoy to Iran under fire over ‘chador’ dress

PARIS: Switzerland´s ambassador to Iran on Thursday faced accusations of betraying the women-led protest movement after she wore all-enveloping black Islamic dress on a visit to a holy shrine alongside clerics.

The Swiss foreign ministry has batted away the criticism, saying ambassador Nadine Olivieri Lozano was appropriately dressed in line with protocol for a visit to a holy site. Iranian media had published images of Lozano dressed head-to-toe in black with a full headscarf and long black garment alongside turbaned clerics during a visit to the holy shrine city of Qom.

The visit came more than five months into protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly breaching the country´s strict dress code for women.

All Iranian women have been obliged since shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to cover their heads and bodies, with the authorities consistently refusing to give ground on the rule. Abolishing the obligatory headscarf has been one of the demands of the protest movement, along with the removal of the entire Islamic theocracy ruling the country.

“Swiss ambassador Nadine Olivieri Lozano wears a chador and goes to a mosque with the mullahs,” said Belgian lawmaker Darya Safai, who has played a prominent role in rallies in Europe supporting the protest movement.

“While millions of Iranian women are fighting for women´s rights and knowing that thousands have been killed for it, she wears a hijab and makes publicity for the oppressors. Disgusting!” she said on Twitter.