Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Iranian ambassador to UK removed from post over hijab incident

Iranian ambassador to UK removed from post over hijab incident

Mohsen Baharvand ordered back to Tehran after video shows some women with heads uncovered at embassy reception
The Iranian ambassador to the UK has been ordered back to Tehran and is to be removed from his post after a video circulated showing an embassy reception at which some women did not have their heads covered.

News of Mohsen Baharvand’s return to Tehran was reported by the ILNA news agency in Iran.

At the event commemorating the 43rd Iranian Revolution, a woman playing a piano alongside a violinist was not wearing a hijab. Another video of the event showed a more conventional gathering at which speeches were given.

An Iranian in London tweeted a video of the event, attended largely by diplomats, asking whether the party would “with the presence of these people have the slightest benefit for the Iranian people?”. He later tweeted: “It is gratifying that our voice was heard in Iran. Please send an ambassador to London who is pragmatic and worthy of serving Iran and working only for the benefit of the Iranian people.”

The news circulated first in pro-regime newspapers, and some claimed it was part of a wider reorganisation of the Iranian diplomatic service being carried out by the new more hardline government led by Ebrahim Raisi, elected last June.

Baharvand was appointed by the foreign ministry before the presidential elections, but took up his London posting in July after the change in leadership of the department. He was previously the deputy head of the legal department in Iran under Mohammad Javad Zarif, the former foreign minister.

In his dealings with reporters in the UK, the ambassador did not stray from the official government position on the Iran nuclear talks, but tried to explain the context of Iranian thinking.

His departure comes at a critical time in British-Iranian relations. Iran is on the cusp of deciding whether to accept Washington’s terms for a US return to the Iran nuclear deal, including the lifting of many sanctions. Alongside the nuclear talks, Britain is seeking to secure the release of three British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran.

The Islamic Consultative Assembly, Iran’s parliament, met in private session on Sunday to review the state of the talks that many say could finally reach a conclusion this week. Ali Bagheri, the Iranian chief negotiator, is due to return on Sunday to Vienna, where the Iran talks are taking place, with fresh final instructions. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, is to meet Iran’s supreme national security council on Monday, and there is talk of a special session of Iran’s parliament on Tuesday.

The foreign minister said the talks were continuing, stressing nothing was agreed until everything was agreed. Issues remain around assurances on the US’s long-term commitment to the deal, and the extent of sanction suspension.

Both sides seem to be trying to prevent the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to spill into the critical last days of the Vienna talks.

Russia has, as a signatory to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the technical term for the 2015 deal – acted as a key mediator in the months-long talks in Vienna between European powers, the US and Iran. The Russian ambassador in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, has been a passionate defender of the invasion.

Opponents of the deal, not necessarily party to the negotiations, fear an agreement will give Iran leeway to become a nuclear power relatively quickly and argue that the west’s experience with Russia shows that appeasement of fundamentally hostile powers does not work, and only emboldens them.

Some Iranian political scientists have urged Iran not to be too outspoken in its support of Russia, fearing it will make it more difficult for the Biden administration to win political support for the deal. But Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s supreme national security council, said the war was the direct responsibility of the west’s drive to threaten the security of other countries.

Amir-Abdollahian has also criticised Nato provocations without endorsing the violence. Iran takes the view that the era of cold war blocs is over, and America is in long-term decline, but that it is important for Iran to steer an independent course and not become a client of China.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×