Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the foreign minister of Iran, will not take part in the Raisina Dialogue, reportedly due to disagreements with ORF, the event's organiser, over a promotional video that featured anti-hijab protesters in Iran with a picture of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the background.
Iran requested the removal of the images, but ORF refused. The reason for the intended visit's cancellation was not confirmed by either party. The MEA likewise declined to comment on the matter.
A 50-second video features clips on key global challenges and developments including the war in Ukraine, global push back to China’s aggressive behaviour in South China Sea and the women’s protests in Iran. There was no official announcement about his visit to India. On March 3, he was supposed to take part in the dialogue. India's premier geopolitical and geoeconomic forum is known as the Raisina Dialogue. The MEA and the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) are working together to put it together.