Miss Iraq confirms family fled Iraq amid death threats, post selfie with Miss Israel

Delhi, India

Sarah Idan, representing Iraq at the Miss Universe pageant held last month confirmed that she and her family received death threats after she posted a selfie with Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman.

In an interview with a leading news channel, Sarah said that now her family has fled their home country of Iraq after repeated death threats. 

During the Miss Universe contest, Sarah posted a selfie with Adar and captioned it: “Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel #missuniverse."

The photo became viral soon after, with several hardliners in her home country calling her names for the act. 

Sarah then wrote a follow-up post saying that the selfie was support for the Benjamin Netanyahu administration or a slight against Palestinians.

Sarah Idan represented her war-torn country at the beauty pageant last month in Las Vegas. She was the first contestant from Iraq at the pageant after a gap of 45 years.  

Sarah is an aspiring singer who also has US citizenship and lives in Los Angeles.