Zahra Rahnavard stresses importance of women’s employment

Washington, 21 May (WashingtonTV)—Zahra Rahnavard, author and wife of presidential candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, said on Thursday that Iranian women are experiencing life through the best moments of the country’s history.

Rahnavard, who was speaking to a gathering of the third generation of young women supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi – [called] Nasim-e Dokhtaran – addressed three questions regarding women, in her speech, namely: “What do we know about women; Why are women in this situation and How can women find happiness?”. She praised Iranian women in general, saying they were “enthusiastic, joyful, wise and sophisticated,” and that they are “committed to moral principles and to faith.”

A former principal of the al-Zahra University in Tehran, Rahnavard also said at this gathering that Iran’s “educated” young women were worried about finding suitable employment and concerned about the management system of the country.

Rahnavard considered that employment was the first step in entering the “stage of equality and eliminating [gender] discrimination” and said that Iran’s women and girls should feel that they have freedom and security in the work place, in the streets and in universities.

Saying that women cannot find employment which is commensurate with their expertise, Rahnavard added that Iranian women “suffer from shortcomings in [civil and citizenship] laws.”

According to the Fars news agency, Rahnavard considered “attention to the public arena” to be another way to happiness for Iran’s young women, and said that the most important issue in the public arena is employment. She declared that under conditions of “economic prosperity alongside non-discriminatory policy-making” employment can be the best method of fulfillment for young women.

Addressing her remarks to young women, she named elections one of the “seasons” in which they can say their piece and added that there are gaps and incongruities between Iran’s laws and the demands of the young, to which more attention must be paid.

Criticizing what she called narrow-mindedness with regard to women’s issues, she said: “As soon as we put the issue of freedom and security side by side, some people say that we mean loose morals.” She called on Mousavi’s female supporters to show in practice that the freedom which they have in mind, is the freedom of cultured young women.

Saying that “some want to control our girls with a security environment,” Rahnavard added that these people should know “they will be decisively defeated because no growth or flourishing can succeed with repression.”

Rahnavard said that the model for any woman who wants to play a future role is Fatima [Zahra], the daughter of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad, adding: “The holy Zahra is a model for all of us, a vanguard woman for eternity; she is not of the past, rather, she belongs to the eternity of history.”

Following Rahnavard’s comments, a woman in the audience addressed her, saying: “My complaint is against Mr. Mousavi, the same person that, because my father shredded his picture (in the past), he landed in prison. Where were you during the past 20 years?” the ISNA news agency reports.

Rahnavard replied saying: “Mousavi is the most committed individual to the discourse of the revolution, and today his agenda is centered on reviving that discourse; if we forget today, it means a return to square one. Today is a day in which we have nuclear products, and you ask, where was Mousavi for the last 20 years?”

She added: “Mr. Mousavi was present, but he was meek and censored. Mr. Mousavi was present in the Expediency Council and the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council and he spoke on various occasions, but he turned his back on the camera and the camera was frightened of him.”

Sources: Fars news agency, ISNA

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(Original article written in Persian.)