Miss Grand Iran

Miss Grand Iran is a national beauty pageant title awarded to Iran representatives competing at the Miss Grand International contest.^[1][2][3] The title was first awarded in 2014 to Bahareh Heidari, the winner of Miss Iran 2013, who then competed at Miss Grand International 2014 in Thailand;^[1] however, she was unplaced.^[4]

Miss Grand Iran

Bahareh Heidari [nn] Miss Grand Iran 2014 Shadi Osmani Miss Grand Iran 2015
Formation	2014
Type	Beauty pageant
Headquarters	Los Angeles
Location	United States
Membership	Miss Grand International
Official language	Persian English
National director	George Clooney
Parent organization	Miss Iran (2013–2017, 2020)

Traditionally, the winners of the Miss Iran pageant were also assumed the Miss Grand Iran titleholders until 2021,^[5] when the contract with Miss Grand International was discontinued, and the national winner was sent to compete at Miss Earth instead.^[6]

Since the establishment of Miss Grand International, Iran participated three times but all of its representatives received non-placements.^[4][7][8]

History

Since the Islamic Revolution happened in Iran in 1979, the beauty pageant is prohibited. Several pageant which was previously held annually was abolished.^[5] Later in 2013, an Iranian American television producer and a chairperson of an Australian-based media company IMAJH, George Clooney, established a virtual Iranian pageant named Miss Iran, and its first winner– Bahareh Heidari– was sent to internationally compete in Miss Grand International 2014 in Thailand.^[5] The partnership between the IMAJH and Miss Grand International was terminated in 2021, and the national pageant was also renamed to Queen of Persia, in which the winner was sent to compete at Miss Earth instead.^[5][6]

Due to participating in a beauty pageant and the publication of sexually provocative images that violated the laws of the Islamic Republic, the 2016 titleholder – Atefeh Eskandari, was arrested and imprisoned,^[9][10] later being released in early 2021, after almost 5 years in prison.^[9]

International competition

The following is a list of Iranian representatives at the Miss Grand International contest.

Year	Representative		Original national title	Competition Performance		National director
	English name	Persian name		Placement	Other award(s)
2014	Bahareh Heidari[1]	بهاره حیدری	Miss Iran 2013[1]	Unplaced[4]	—	George Clooney
2015	Shadi Osmani[2]	شادی عثمانی	Miss Iran 2014[2]	Unplaced[7]	—
2016	Atefeh Eskandari[11]	عاطفه اسکندری	Miss Iran 2015[12]	Did not compete
2017	Sonia Beytoushi[3][13]	سونیا بیطوشی	Miss Iran 2016[13][14]	Did not compete
2020	Ayda Mirahmadi[15]	آیدا میراحمدی	Miss Iran 2020[15][16]	Unplaced[8]	—
No representatives since 2021

References

1. Martine Aurdal (30 July 2018). "Per Sandbergs forhold til og ferie med Miss Iran 2013 er pikant. Det er også en potensiell sikkerhetsrisiko" (in Norwegian). Dagbladet. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
2. Miss Iran (2015). "Shadi Osmani – Miss IRAN 2014". Archived from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
3. "Kurdish woman hopes to win Iran next international beauty pageant". www.rudaw.net. 28 December 2016. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
4. Arvin Ello (6 October 2014). "Miss Cuba is Miss Grand International 2014". www.vintersections.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
5. "Queen of Persia – History". 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
6. "Miss Earth Iran 2021". Queen of Persia. 2021. Archived from the original on 16 September 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
7. "Lệ Quyên bất ngờ "trắng tay" tại Miss Grand International 2015". Dantri.com.vn (in Vietnamese). 26 October 2015. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
8. "Samantha Bernardo makes it to Top 20 of Miss Grand International!". GMA Network. 27 March 2021. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
9. "آزادی خانم بازیگر و 5 مدلینگ مشهور از زندان با عفو رهبری ( عکس )". www.irannaz.com (in Persian). 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
10. "آزادی ۶ مدلینگ زن و مرد از زندان با عفو رهبری / یک خانم بازیگر هم بود؟! + اسامی". www.yjc.ir (in Persian). 4 April 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
11. "Atefeh Eskandari – Miss Iran 2015". Miss Iran. 2015. Archived from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
12. "۳ «دختر شایسته ایران» مورد عفو رهبری قرار گرفتند". www.balatarin.com (in Persian). 14 April 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
13. Hồng Linh (1 September 2019). "Hoa hậu gây tranh cãi tại Miss Universe 2019 khoe vẻ đẹp Trung Đông say đắm" (in Vietnamese). Dân Việt [vi]. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
14. Harry Rodríguez Caraballo (22 October 2019). "Miss Irán denuncia que Miss Universo la está ignorando" (in Spanish). Metro International. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
15. Berkat Prima (9 February 2021). "Bikin Kesengsem! 9 Pesona Miss Grand Iran 2020 Ayda Mirahmadi" (in Indonesian). IDN Times. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
16. "Queen of Persia 2020". www.queensofpersia.com. 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.

External links

• Media related to Miss Grand Iran at Wikimedia Commons