Controversy surrounds hijab during Swedish visit to Iran
Iranian hard-liners took the government to task for allowing an event where female Swedish diplomats did not wear the hijab, while the Swedish women faced blowback at home too.
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.
