Iran state TV faces backlash after blurring Finnish foreign minister’s legs in UN broadcast

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen criticised the Iranian state television for blurring her legs during a broadcast of her meeting with Iran’s foreign minister, calling the move a “sad” example of how women are treated in Iran.

“My Swedish colleague sent me the video on Friday. My first reaction was that it was amusing. But I immediately added, ‘sad too’,” Valtonen told Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily newspaper.

Valtonen has been an outspoken critic of Iran’s treatment of women, stating that she time and again raises women’s rights in her talks with Iranian officials and refuses to change her clothing or attend events that require covering her face or hair.

This stance gained attention after Iranian state television blurred the legs of both Valtonen and Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard in a news broadcast of their UN meeting, an act that quickly gained traction on social media.

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… pic.twitter.com/bzP4boqmIH

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) September 26, 2025

In a post on Instagram, Finland’s National Coalition Party (Valtonen’s party) described the censoring of the Minister’s legs as “a sad example of the trampling of women’s rights.”

“This is a reminder of how women around the world are still controlled and erased from visibility. Every woman has the absolute right to be seen, heard, and live freely,” the party wrote on a post on Instagram.

“The National Coalition Party stands firmly for women’s rights — both in Finland and globally,” it added.

The blurring of women’s bodies in international footage is standard practice for Iranian state media. This modification is done to enforce state-imposed Islamic dress codes on the broadcast, especially when women shown are not adhering to local regulations.

The Finnish Foreign Ministry has yet to release an official statement concerning the incident.

The discussion between Valtonen and Araghchi was held alongside the UN General Assembly, a global event for high-level diplomatic talks. The reported subjects for their meeting included regional stability, human rights, and the influence of women in diplomacy.