Delhi (AsiaNews) – Protests caused by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman who died in September in the custody of Iran’s morality police after she was arrested for not wearing her headscarf correctly, has sparked a diplomatic rift between India and Iran.
Iran's Foreign Ministry yesterday released a statement saying that Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian would not attend next month’s Raisina Dialogue in India, an annual geopolitical meeting organised by India’s Foreign Ministry and Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Iran has accused organisers of “unprofessional” behaviour after ORF posted a video on its website showing Iranian women cutting their hair, a symbol of protest against Iran's strict headscarf rules.
According to Iranian authorities, the video constitutes Indian interference in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic.
Despite a harsh crackdown, protests have been going on for months in Iran following Mahsa’s death. As a result, many Western countries have imposed new sanctions on Iran, a step India has not followed.
As ORF noted, while great powers turned their attention to the war in Ukraine, a diplomatic vacuum has been created across the Middle East, as well as South and Central Asia, especially with regard to Afghanistan, where both India and Iran could carve a space for themselves working together.
