Since Iran is the centre of freedom and tolerance, it should come as no surprise that the country's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would be a champion of women's rights! Of course, the wearing the Hijab for women is mandatory. Not wearing one can result in punishments such as jail, flogging or any number of unspecified more brutal responses from authorities. And then there is the nasty business of women's testimony in court being worth half a man's, and women's right to inheritance is half of men's. We'll gloss over the executions and harassment of women for now and read the word's of wisdom the fearless leader had this to say about women's role in the Iranian future in the Iranian press:
"The role played by women (in our society) is unique and exclusive and cannot be exchanged," Ahmadinejad said, addressing a conference dubbed 'Lady of Insightfulness' in Tehran on Monday, on the threshold of the national 'Women's (and Mothers') Day'.
He stressed the necessity for turning Iran into a role model in economic, social and cultural fields, and added that women play a significant role in Iran's move towards this goal.
"For this attainable dream to come true, the top role and responsibility once again lies on the shoulders of Iran's cultivated, courageous and courage-nurturing women," Ahmadinejad said.
He also blasted the West for mistreating women, saying that capitalist system is damaging the "reality and essence of women".
Also, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei yesterday lambasted the western countries for their instrumental use of women, describing the West's wrong view about woman as the root cause of the different problems existing in the western families.
The source for this is the Fars News Agency, which describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency, covering a wide variety of subjects in different, political, economic, cultural, social, legal, sports, military and other areas with the most up-to-date, independent, unbiased and reliable news and reports in Persian and English."
