Iran has sent a protest note to the Georgian foreign ministry over what it says is mistreatment of some Iranian women wearing Hijab at the security check points of Tbilisi airport.

Earlier, a hardline member of Majles (Iranian parliament), had criticized President Hassan Rouhani’s government for not protesting the alleged incident.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi announced on Thursday, August 16, that the protest note was a response to reports that some Iranian female passengers of Tbilisi-Isfahan flights had been asked by the Tbilisi airport security to remove their Hijab headscarves on August 7.

Speaking to reporters, Qassemi said after receiving the news, the Iranian ambassador to Georgia called some of the passengers to make sure of the authenticity of the reports and then sent a strongly-worded protest note to the Georgian foreign ministry and the airport security police.”

Furthermore, Qasemi said, the consular department of the Iranian Foreign Ministry sent another protest note to the Georgian Embassy in Tehran, asking for explanations by the ambassador about the issue.

The spokesman also noted that Iran has called on relevant Georgian officials to prevent recurrence of such incidents instruct the airport security police to do their best to observe “the dignity of Muslim women” wearing Hijab, state-run official news agency, IRNA, reported.

News outlets affiliated with hardliners in Iran widely circulated vitriolic comments made by Shahinshahr’s representative to parliament, Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, on Wednesday, condemning “offensive treatment of Iranian female tourists at Tbilisi airport, Georgia”.

Fars news agency, run by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRC), cited Haji Deligani as saying on Wednesday, “Iranian female tourists were forced to remove their headscarves, shawls and manteaus [loose garments] before passing through the gate.”

Georgian authorities have not responded to the protest.

There was an allegation also in 2017 about a similar incident in the Tbilisi airport.