Amanpour said she refused – at which point aides to President Ebrahim Raisi canceled the interview, sparking an incident that highlighted tensions over women’s rights in Iran. “I refused to fold or cave to activate [the Iranians] to impose the laws of their land on our land,” Amanpour told the Washington Post on Thursday. He added: “I stood up for myself as a journalist.” Iranian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The incident comes as protests are taking place across Iran for Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in custody last week. Amini was arrested in Tehran by Iran’s “morality police” because of her public attire. Her family disputed claims by Iranian officials that she died of heart failure. In protest, protesters burned hijabs and other such coverings, and women publicly cut their hair in defiance of the country’s leadership. Security forces trying to quell the protests killed at least eight people, according to human rights group Amnesty International. In interviews and in a Twitter thread, Amanpour said she had already sat down to interview Raisi at the United Nations on Wednesday — the president was in town for a meeting of the U.N. general assembly — when officials insisted she cover her hair. . They heralded the advent of Muharram, a communal mourning period observed mainly by Shiite Muslims. But Amanpour suggested that Raisi did not want to be seen interviewing an uncovered woman at a time when head covering protests are raging in Iran. He said he had told Iranian officials in advance that he intended to ask about the protests. It’s hardly the first time a journalist has struggled with wardrobe decisions when reporting on an Islamic country where women are required to cover up, such as Iran. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) berated CNN’s Clarissa Ward, inaccurately, for wearing a “mandatory burqa” when reporting from Kabul last year. (Ward was actually wearing a black head covering.) And Lesley Stahl wore a gray headscarf for her “60 Minutes” interview with Raisi at the presidential compound in Tehran last week, before the Amini protests began. In her report, broadcast on Sunday, Stahl said Iranian officials told her “how to dress, not to sit in front of him and not to interrupt him.” But Amanpour noted a key difference: Stahl was visiting Iran and dressing according to local custom. Amanpour said she does it herself when she’s in the country — but never outside of it. “I didn’t do a trick,” he told The Post. “It was a decision I had to make on the spot.” In a statement, CNN said it “fully supported Christiane and her team’s decision to politely decline an interview with President Raisi.” Amanpour called the Iranians’ actions regarding the canceled interview “very troubling” in an interview with CNN on Thursday morning. She also posted a photo of herself on Twitter, showing her in a white suit and sitting across from an empty chair, with her hair uncovered. “And so we left.” she wrote “The interview did not take place. As the protests continue in Iran and people are being killed, it would be an important time to speak with President Raisi.”
