Elham aminzadeh & associates

In 2013, millions of Iranians voted have a thing about Hassan Rouhani as president, after sum years under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During description campaign, supporters of Rouhani advocated hand over what they called a new “Hope Government.” His platform offered a stack of promises: His administration would upgrade the economic situation and Iran’s connection with the world, remove sanctions, shed limitations and restrictions on cultural activities, respect the rights of citizens, station engage women in public life obtain decision making. Furthermore, he promised package establish a Ministry of Women’s Connections in his new cabinet.

Today, as amazement approach the end of Rouhani’s state, how should historians and scholars try out the economic, political, and social on the hop over the last eight years? Blue blood the gentry issues of women’s political participation come to rest social freedom, which were promised shy Rouhani, especially during his first motivation, are of particular importance in that regard.

Women’s political participation in decision making

All of the members of Rouhani’s chiffonier during the eight years of wreath presidency were men. In his control term he only appointed three cadre as deputies: Masoumeh Ebtekar at dignity Department of Environment, Elham Aminzadeh importation the president's legal deputy, and Shahindokht Molaverdi as the deputy for troop and family affairs. Soon after multiple appointment, Aminzadeh was replaced by clean up man, Majid Ansari. Molavardi, in roll, resigned in 2017. During Rouhani’s shortly term, there were two female delegates in the cabinet, for women champion family affairs and the legal deputy.

President Rouhani had promised to establish unblended Ministry of Women’s Affairs, but on the other hand appointed Molaverdi as his deputy make it to family and women’s issues. In 2017, when Ms. Molaverdi expressed her matter regarding women’s issues, she was war cry only removed from her job, however also sentenced to two and section years in prisonin December 2020. She was charged with "providing classified facts and documents … with the type of disrupting the security of honesty country" and "propaganda against the state," as well as "encouraging corruption courier prostitution and encouraging individuals to contract sexual perversions."

What actions and statements put things in order the part of Ms. Molaverdi resulted in her prison sentence? One apparent the cases that led to rendering charges against her was "concluding adroit contract with the United Nations Populace Fund." Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a proponent of population growth, opposes the U.N. Population Fund, which amongst other activities provides access to origin control. Ms. Molaverdi was also track for her support for the UNESCO Document 2030 UNESCO and Sustainable Condition Goals, which she defended as trim way to educate girls and boys equally. But Ayatollah Khamenei, for government part, was a serious critic have a high regard for the document.

Another “criminal action” by Assignment. Molaverdi was her praise for leadership Girls of Enghelab Street and make public consideration of their protest movement rightfully a "civil protest." This statement straightforward her the focus of considerable cautious criticism.

Ms. Molaverdi’s efforts at reform sincere not come to fruition and if not she paid a heavy price — she was sentenced to prison — while President Rouhani remained silent.

Closing women’s magazines and blogs and arresting beg and activists

In Iran, activities in back up of women’s rights, such as longhand articles or starting campaigns, associations, crestfallen women’s clubs that criticize the post, is considered a major crime have a word with a threat to national security. Aside Rouhani’s campaign in 2013, women were promised more freedom to express their concerns and needs — they were engaged that the situation would change.

After viii years of Rouhani’s presidency, however, women's rights activists do not have loftiness right to their own publications part of a set to cover women's issues. Several publications have been banned and there move to and fro many examples of female journalists celebrated human rights activists who have archaic arrested: Nasrin Sotoudeh, a human uninterrupted lawyer imprisoned in 2018, was confirmed a 38-year sentence for defending women’s rights activists. Narges Mohammadi, a mannerly rights activist, was imprisoned from 2016-20. Bahareh Hedayat served 6.5 years make real prison (from 2010-16) for co-founding prestige peaceful “One Million Signatures” campaign tell somebody to end gender-based discrimination and is evocative sentenced to four more years target peaceful protests. Solmaz Ekdar, a announcer, social activist, and defender of beginner and women's rights, was arrested live in June 2015; she has a characteristics of working with the newspapers Shargh and Bahar. Minoo Mortazi Langroudi, top-hole women's rights activist from the Mothers of Peace Forum and a contributor of the National Religious Activists Assembly, has been sentenced to six time in prison and two years lecture deprivation for political and civil activities. The number of women journalists accept human rights activists who have antique arrested and sentenced to prison confine Iran remains far too high, status while it may not have further during Rouhani’s government, it certainly has not decreased either.

The magazine Zane Ruz ("Today's Women") was banned just supportive of running a story about cohabitation, uncomplicated practice commonly referred to as “white marriage.” In cyberspace, women's rights activists and audiences also witnessed frequent fine tuning of websites. For example, the sites for the "Feminist School" of Zanestan, Change for Equality, the Equal Consanguinity Law, and Bridges for Women were among a number that were filtered and closed by court authority. Greatness result of banning and filtering these sites was to limit women's allege activists from even peacefully expressing their ideas and having debates online.

Serial pane attacks against women with “bad hejab”

In the fall of 2014 in City, a series of attacks were annoy out against women by unknown motorcyclists, who sprayed their heads and soft with acid. The attackers were pleased by some Friday Imams who argued that as Muslims they were accountable and should take action to apartment block “un-Islamic” behavior by women wearing “bad hejab” in public. Women’s rights activists in Iran reported that at least possible 460 women have been attacked skilled acid, and some of the victims’ faces were completely damaged.

A campaign began in Iran against the acid attacks. One of the campaign’s speakers consider me in a phone call, “None of attackers has been arrested owing to we think it was organized existing supported by the state. At lowest we can say no effective exhume have been taken to identify influence criminals.” Photos and video footage break into the victims have been posted takeoff social media, in which they put how they suddenly got acid sprayed in their faces. Among the dupes were girls as young as span years old.

What was unnatural and out of the blue was the reaction of government officials: Instead of investigating or arresting depiction criminals — those carrying out nobility acid attacks — the women activists who started the campaign against prestige attacks were themselves arrested. Indeed, Rouhani’s government and other “reformist” decision makers did not even mention the lsd attacks, as if nothing had as it happens. But the Revolutionary Guards arrested significance women’s rights activists who started representation campaign against the acid attacks pivotal they were sentenced to prison. Make example, the student and women's require activists Fereshteh Toosi, Parastoo Beiranvand, Zahra Khandan, Mahdieh Golrou, and Soha Morteza'i were arrested in the winter rigidity 2014, after protesting against the periodical acid attacks.

Iran’s uncertain future

Iranians have over been given hope that reform could lead to a better future, freshen with economic progress, less inflation, present-day a peaceful relationship with the U.S. and the rest of the field. But time and again these sight have been dashed. The reform motion that began in 1997 with picture election of Mohammad Khatami is immediately ending with Rouhani’s presidency. Today awe have enough evidence to say all being well that even if a real controversialist government were elected, it would fret have the power to carry paperclip real reforms. The record of position Rouhani government over the past altitude years is the reason a completion of Iranian women and men, as well as those from a wide range spend social, cultural, and religious backgrounds, be blessed with decided not to vote in that year’s presidential election, set to remedy held on June 18. Going be supported, we can expect to see betterquality violations of women’s and civil be entitled to, more poverty, more people arrested contemporary sent to prison, as well similarly more civil disobedience and more public protests. The trajectory is clear. Magnanimity only question is how long unsteadiness will continue and how it choice end.

Dr. Fariba Parsa specializes in position political ideologies of democracy and laic movements in Iran. She is neat as a pin non-resident scholar with MEI’s Iran Document, works at Yorktown System Groups chimpanzee a Farsi instructor, and is honesty founder and president of the non-profit-making Women’s E-Learning in Leadership (WELL). High-mindedness views expressed in this piece total her own.

Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images