Miss Iraq Sarah Idan forced to flee country after receiving death threats over Instagram snap

A seemingly innocent Instagram post has forced Sarah Idan – better known as Miss Iraq – to flee her home country after she received numerous death threats.

Idan was viciously attacked on social media after she uploaded a photo of herself posing with Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman. The caption of the picture read: "Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel #missuniverse."

According to the Times of Israel, Gandelsman said: "The two of those things together caused a mess for her back home where people made threats against her and her family that if she didn't return home and take down the photos, they would remove her title, that they would kill her."

"Out of fear, they left Iraq at least until the situation calms down," Gandelsman said. "She did it so that people can understand that it's possible to live together."

In a follow up post on Instagram, which is written in Arabic, Idan said she did not intend to cause any harm. "It does not signal support for the government of Israel and does not mean I agree or accept its policies in the Arab homeland." Idan said the post was meant to "express hope and desire for peace between the two countries", according to Fox News.

Idan has yet to take the post down. Gandelsman also uploaded a photo of the pair to her social media accounts.