The Islamic regime’s state television censored the legs of the female Swedish and Finnish foreign ministers during its coverage of the UN General Assembly meeting held in New York, according to international coverage and footage which has since circulated.
Iran, known for its restrictive modesty laws that have seen women murdered for failing to cover their hair, blurred the legs of Finnish FM Elina Valtonen and Swedish FM Maria Malmer Stenergard.
The two officials were recorded while meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Iranian feminist activist and journalist Masih Alinejad, who was the intended victim of an assassination plot sponsored by Tehran, commented on X/Twitter, “Surreal: Iran’s regime covered the legs of Finland & Sweden’s foreign ministers on State TV, afraid their men would be ‘tempted.’ Can we all agree: when a regime needs to hide women’s ankles to keep men from ‘sinning,’ they’re not a government, they’re a frat house of horny ayatollahs?
“I have a quick question to you dear @elinavaltonen and @mariastenergard Negotiate with these men? The same ones who see a female minister’s ankle as a national-security threat while women at home face lashes, imprisonment, and even execution for refusing their rules.”
She later added, “Ladies, let’s raise your voices, raise your skirts, raise hell! Apparently Iran’s regime can launch missiles, but they tremble at women’s legs. That’s why they blur us on TV. And they put female singers in jail. They kill prisoners, but they panic at our ankle.”
Responding to Iran's censorship
Valtonen told Finnish news site Helsingin Sanomat that the incident was a “sad” demonstration of the reality of women’s freedoms in Iran.
"I don't change my dress depending on who I'm meeting. I have a policy, for example, that I won't attend events that require covering the face or hair," she said. "I have praised the fact that in Finland girls are also allowed to play soccer and sing loudly."