Tag: President Hassan Rouhani

Ladies allowed into Azadi Stadium.

Last night, the Team Melli met Bolivia in a friendly international match at Azadi Stadium, the result of which was a narrow win by two goal to one for Iran.

Apart from the satisfactory result, a more significant and important thing in Azadi Stadium was the surprise presence of women after 40 years. Since the Islamic revolution, females were banned by the fundamentalist government from attending men football matches at all the stadiums in Iran.

Although the presence of women watching the match was selective and limited, and ordinary people could not watch the match, nevertheless allowing such limited numbers to enter the stadium for the first time after 40 years, even in a controlled manner, could be a good omen and might even be the beginning of equal opportunity for men and women to be able to attend football match at all Iranian stadiums.

This particular ban by the religious authorities is second most despised and unpopular of all the freedom restrictions that the Islamists have forced upon Iranians after that hated forced Hijab wearing for females.

Under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran in accordance with the concept of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, the powers of government are vested in the legislature, the judiciary, and the executive powers, functioning under the supervision of the Absolute Guardianship and the Leadership of the Ummah , which is in reference to the Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamnaei.

Iranians and Persians in general, have always taken pride in the role of women not just at home but in a greater scope in their society. Iran was a leading country in literacy of females and their involvement in civil activities and sport

During the Shah’s regime, women ministers served in the government. Dr. Farrokhroo Parsa was Minster of Education from 27th August 1968  to 2nd January 1971. Parse was a physician, educator and parliamentarian. Her mother, Fakhr-e Āfāgh, was the editor of the women’s magazine Jahān-e Zan (“The World of Woman”). After the Islamic revolution and after 8 years out of office, Parsa was callously executed after a summary trial.

Another female Minister was Mahnaz Afkhami, who manged to escape to USA but remained an outspoken campaigner for women’s rights in Iran.

Women Rights did not appeal to the Islamic Republic’s more conservative elements especially at the beginning of the revolution when many radical and extremists where in power.

“The women who participated in the revolution, and they did in large numbers, many of them were actually pushing for more rights, they were pushing for more freedoms, pushing for more equality,” Mahnaz Afkhami, currently living in US explained to BBC in an interview.

“That was why the disappointment was so great when the revolution ended up taking away the rights that they had already gained.”

After the Iranian revolution in 1979, many of the secular rights that women had being afforded under the Shah were abolished or rolled back. An order was passed that laws that were in contravention of religious (or sharia) rules had to be revoked.

Islamic polygamy was instituted and, most visibly, the hijab head covering became mandatory in all public spaces.

For 40 years Iranian women resisted and protested the government’s harsh treatment of women and for that, they were victimized. Thousands were dragged to police station and jailed for simply what they label as bad hijab.

Change was coming however.

The authorities eased the rules that mandated the strict wearing of hijab which even Presidents such as Rouhani criticized

Allowing women in Stadium, which must have been approved by the supreme leader, is seen as one  further step towards easing of the nation suffering which is experiencing hardships and economical decline partially due to American sanctions.

Restrictions on activities such music concerts and mixing of men and women in public have started being relaxed although not totally abandoned by the government.

No doubt that the Saudi Arabia allowing women to drive and also allowing them into stadiums to watch  football matches in what was forever an autocratic ultra conservative regime, has enticed the Iranians  to respond and not be left behind.

Sarah Ghumi, Iran’s women’s National Team player , fan who watched the game closely as a fan, said in an interview with ISNA about her experience: “Last night, there was a lot of excitement among spectators, and we were all happy when we were going to the stadium for the first time. As a fan I always wanted to go to the stadium and watch my favorite teams playing closely. Thanks God that this time the ladies entered the stadium to watch the match of our national team. We were so glad that it was really worth it.”

About the continual entry of women to the stadiums, she added “: I’m optimistic about this. I think there have been talks that families will be allowed entry to watch games from now on. I’m sure this will happen, and I hope the entry will be free for all women.”

The Guardian:Iranian president tweets World Cup chillout pic

Rare glimpse of an off-duty Hassan Rouhani cheering on his team against Nigeria, in a tracksuit with a cup of tea

Hassan Rouhani

Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani watching Iran v Nigeria at home in Tehran. Photograph: Twitter

It’s 11.30pm Tehran time and Hassan Rouhani is relaxing at home, watching the World Cup match between Iran and Nigeria.

His usual dark clerical robe (aba) is discarded, his white turban (ammameh) put aside, he sits in a tight-fitting Iranian team shirt (unbuttoned), bare arms on show, and tracksuit pants on his sofa watching a widescreen TV.

Hassan RouhaniThere’s no bottle of beer, but a cup of Persian tea and a plate of fruit in front of him. It’s clearly carefully posed – too good to be an spontaneous picture – but still, quite remarkable for a 65-year-old Iranian cleric.

“Proud of our boys who secured our first point – hopefully the first of many more to come,” the president tweeted, referring to the goalless draw in Curitiba, along with the photo – retweeted at least 3,000 times. Rouhani has 213,000 Twitter followers.

The ‘average Joe’ pictures are all part of Iran‘s soccer diplomacy. In Vienna, where senior Iranian and western diplomats were engaged in intense nuclear negotiations, talks were put on hold on Monday night too allow Iran’s foreign minister to watch the match.

Iranian nuclear negotiators watch world cup

Iranian nuclear negotiators glued to a big screen. Photograph: Twitter
A picture posted on Twitter by Iranian journalist Akram Sharifi, showed Mohammad Javad Zarif sat next to senior Iranian nuclear negotiators glued to a big screen showing the match, joined by a pool of Iranian journalists.Rouhani’s predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was an avid football fan but Rouhani’s picture is probably the first of its kind showing a president, who is also a cleric, off-duty at home. It is also remarkable because clerics in Iran have in the past criticised football as a western sport and are generally critical of men wearing short-sleeve clothing.

Very few photographs of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been published without a clerical robe. There is almost no picture of his wife available online.There is an unwritten law prohibiting Iranian cartoonists from depicting clerics.

Reza Haghighatnejad, an Iranian analyst with the website Iranwire, said Rouhani’s photo was “one of the few successful credits in the one-year balance sheet” of Rouhani’s media team.

Some have criticised Rouhani for not having his wife by his side as he watched the World Cup match Despite this, Rouhani’s wife, Sahebe Arabi, has engaged in a number of public appearances since her husband assumed power.

In his first year as president, Rouhani, has become an outspoken critic of dogmatism among his fellow clerics. “Some people still live in the stone age,” Rouhani complained last week.

Rouhani has locked horns with the Iran’s hardliners after saying “we can’t take people to heaven by force and with a whip.”

Female football fans cannot attend football matches at Iranian stadiums.

In their first match in Brazil, Iranian players wore kits highlighting the cause to preserve Iranian cheetahs.