CNN: “Beauty Queen” stuck in Pilippines airport for almost two weeks, says she will be killed if returned to Iran

Remember the film The Terminal (2004) in which Tom Hanks plays a foreigner indefinitely stuck in John F. Kennedy International Airport?   CNN reports that a “beauty queen” from Iran who has spent almost two weeks in an airport in Manila claims that she will be killed if returned to Iran and is seeking asylum in the Philippines.

Bahareh Zare Bahari, a contestant in the recent Miss Intercontinental pageant in Manila, claims that the Iranian government is attempting to silence her because of her public opposition to the government. In a press release last week, the Philippines Immigration Department said the international police agency Interpol issued a worldwide request to arrest Bahari, known as a “red notice.”  Bahari told CNN that an immigration official told her Iran requested one in 2018.

Bahari said she has been confined to a passenger room in Terminal 3 of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport since she arrived from Dubai 12 days ago. “I’m really mentally sick,” she said, adding that the uncertainty over her case is wearing her down.

Stay tuned to learn how this matter turns out.

KJ