PARIS: Switzerland’s ambassador to Iran on Thursday faced accusations of betraying the women-led protest movement after she wore 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 religious 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.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2023