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U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are greeted by Saudi Arabia's King Salman (R) as they arrive at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, January 27, 2015. Obama is stopping in Saudi Arabia on his way back to Washington from India to pay his condolences over the death of King Abdullah and to hold bilateral meetings with King Salman. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Michelle Obama met the top Saudi leaders without wearing a headscarf. Contrary to what the West may suspect, Saudi Arabia apparently did not care much about it.

It is a standard dress code for every Saudi woman to cover their head. If done otherwise, there is generally a huge controversy. At times, it may be considered as a criminal offence for a woman not wearing a headscarf. However, the U.S. first lady seems to be one of those foreigners whom Saudi Arabia makes an exception for. Photographs from official events reveal that there are other female guests not wearing headscarves. Saudi leaders earlier met foreigner women who did not wear headscarves.

However, Michelle’s “immodesty” did make rounds on social media for a short while. The hashtag #ميشيل_أوباما_سفور, which can be translated as "Michelle Obama immodesty" was used around 2,500 times on Tuesday. While it is not a small number, the BBC reports that Saudi people have been much more interested in "King Salman leaves Obama to pray" which attracted over 170,000 messages. The slogan was used by Saudi people to show their admiration for their new king. Only 37 percent of the tweets using the "immodesty" tag came from Saudi users.

Michelle’s decision of not wearing a headscarf in an orthodox Muslim country did have its share of criticism. Some users on social media wonder why she took such a decision even though she had worn a headscarf during her trip to Malaysia in 2010.

According to some, Michelle made a strong political statement by not wearing a headscarf. The Washington Post observes that Laura Bush made similar choices during her visit to Saudi Arabia in 2006. According to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush was offered a black robe and veil by the-then Saudi king but she decided against wearing it.

Michelle’s decision not wear a headscarf may be considered a political statement in Saudi Arabia where there are extremely strict rules for women. Saudi women are not allowed to drive and are expected to cover their entire body in public. Michelle, nevertheless, did wear loose clothing completely covering her arms during the visit.