Iran
“Complicity in murder” – Swiss ambassador’s chador causes outrage
The Iranian people have been fighting the brutal regime for months. The fact that the Swiss ambassador visits a shrine wearing a chador has caused an outcry.
updated
These pictures of the Swiss ambassador in Iran are currently causing a sensation.
Nadine Olivieri Lozano, who has represented Switzerland in Iran since March 2022, recently visited a prophet’s shrine.
She wore a chador and was accompanied by two men believed to be mullahs.
The fact that the ambassador wore a chador is “a shame” for many people. For months there have been protests in Iran demanding more rights and freedoms for women in Iran.
AFP
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Nadine Olivieri Lozano recently visited the shrine of Fatima Masuma in Iran.
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The Swiss woman wore a chador and was accompanied by two mullahs.
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The anger at Lozano is great online – because the Iranian people are still fighting for more freedom, including when it comes to clothing.
The Swiss Ambassador to Iran, Nadine Olivieri Lozano, recently visited the shrine of Fatima Masuma in the city of Qom. It is not uncommon for national representatives to marvel at sights in the host countries – but Lozano’s visit caused an international outcry.
Wearing a chador and flanked by mullahs
Because the pictures taken during the visit show Lozano, who has represented Switzerland in Iran since March 2022, veiled in a chador. The companions at her side are said to be two mullahs – members of the very government that has been running for months brutally suppressing proteststhousands of people imprisoned and already dozens on construction cranes and others hanged in public from improvised gallows hat.
“Shame on you”
The tenor on social media is clear: “Shame on you, Ms. Lozano!”, write dozens of users. Others are demanding an explanation from the Federal Council – so writes the account «sepi_deh»: “Is this up to date? If so, that can only be declared as complicity in the murder, rape and torture of tens of thousands.”
There has also been sharp criticism from politicians. Belgian MP Darya Safai writes: “While millions of Iranian women are fighting for more rights and thousands have already been killed, she wears a chador and advertises the oppressors. Disgusting!”.
In a statement, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs writes that the stopover at the religious site took place on the sidelines of a visit to an academic institution and that the clothing protocols for women in force there were observed. “The interreligious dialogue is of great importance in the current context,” it continues.
“Iranian authorities called for de-escalation”
Switzerland uses all available channels to promote dialogue – at the same time, it has repeatedly and clearly commented on human rights violations in Iran. “In the past few months, she has repeatedly and unequivocally condemned the use of violence against the demonstrators at various levels and called on the Iranian authorities to choose the path of de-escalation,” says the statement by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
Thousands of demonstrators still in custody
Meanwhile, thousands of Iranians who took part in the demonstrations against the mullahs’ regime and for more women’s rights remain in prison. Many have already been sentenced to death on highly opaque allegations – often the allegations were “waging war against God” or “corruption on earth”. According to Iranian media reports, numerous other demonstrators are on the judiciary’s death list. According to human rights organizations, more than 500 demonstrators were killed in the course of the protests alone.
The trigger for the nationwide protests in Iran was the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 16, 2022. She was arrested by the so-called morality police for violating Iran’s Islamic dress code. Since then there have been repeated protests against the Islamic regime.
Swiss special role
Switzerland has a special role in Iran because the United States of America does not maintain diplomatic or consular relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. For this reason, the Swiss government has been acting through its embassy in Tehran since May 21, 1980 as the US protecting power in the country. The Foreign Interests Section of the Swiss Embassy provides consular services to US citizens living in or traveling to Iran.
As early as 2008, a Swiss politician made a mistake in Iran and caused international criticism. At that time, Micheline Calmy-Rey, who was Switzerland’s foreign minister at the time, traveled to Tehran to sign a treaty. On site, she showed up with a headscarf. Her political opponents then accused her of allowing herself to be exploited by the Iranian regime. Calmy-Rey rejected this criticism at the time: Rather, it clearly expressed the Swiss human rights position. “I have defended our concept of human rights in direct discussions with the President, with the Foreign Minister and in front of the press,” Calmy-Rey said in a written statement on a report in the “NZZ am Sonntag”.
Micheline Calmy-Rey with her counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki in Tehran in March 2008.
REUTERS
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