It was a classy ensemble by anyone's standards, but First Lady Michelle Obama's Oscars frock was given a demure makeover by an Iranian news agency nonetheless.
Obama was beamed live from the White House via a video link to present the Best Picture award at Oscars on Sunday, dressed in a thin-strapped metallic dress.
But screenshots of her surprise appearance were doctored by Iran's semi-official Fars news agency to give the dress (admittedly still short) sleeves.
PHOTO (Getty):
PHOTO (Fars News Agency):
The Photoshop alterations were undoubtedly made so as the photograph would comply with strict rules enforced by Iranian media censors.
As for Obama's announcement that Argo was the winning picture, Fars described the film as an "anti-Iranian movie" produced by Hollywood "Zionists".
The Guardian points out Iranian women shown on Iran's state television are required to cover their hair, arms and legs with a hijab. Foreign women travelling within the Islamic republic must comply with the same rules, but those shown on TV will be "tolerated without a hijab, up to a point."
This is not the first time publications have altered images of U.S. leaders. A Brooklyn-based Hasidic newspaper removed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and another woman from the iconic photograph of leaders watching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden from the Situation Room. The paper eventually apologised for the editing job, but said the decision was for religious purposes and cited the "laws of modesty" that govern the publication.
An Egyptian state newspaper also came under fire when it altered a photograph of Middle Eastern leaders, including then-President Hosni Mubarak, meeting with President Obama. The newspaper moved Mubarak from his position walking behind Obama and the other leaders to appearing in front of everyone.
And EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton also felt the kiss of the Photoshop brush - with her neckline being raised in photographs taken of her next to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalilil, the BBC spied.
