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Spotlight on Iran Spotlight on Iran June 2, 2013—Khordad 12, 1392 Editor: Dr. Raz Zimmt The woman by his side: Zahra Moshir – Will the mayor’s wife become Iran’s first lady? In recent years the wives of Iranian politicians gain wider media exposure than in the past. In the 2009 presidential election, Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of reformist opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was put at the forefront of her husband’s campaign. In contrast, A’zam Sadat Farahi, the wife of President Ahmadinejad, made only a few appearances with her husband. Of all the candidates’ wives in the current presidential election, one in particular deserves special mention: Zahra Sadat Moshir, the wife of Tehran’s Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. Since her husband was elected mayor, Moshir, a doctor of social science, has served as the mayor’s advisor and director of the Department of Women’s Affairs in the Tehran municipality. In recent years Moshir has worked to advance the status of women in Tehran, integrate them into the labor market, and help solve the social hardships that women face. Moshir’s positions reflect a worldview that blends support for integrating women into the labor market and even pushing them to senior executive positions with a conservative Islamic outlook that emphasizes women’s traditional family roles and takes a positive view of gender segregation in the public space. The growing media exposure of Iranian politicians’ wives and the increasing public interest in these women have recently come under criticism from conservative circles, who believe that this phenomenon reflects the negative influence of the Western culture. The conservative website Serat News went as far as to express concern that a candidate who brings his wife into his presidential campaign might involve her in the management of state affairs if he is elected president. In recent years the wives of Iranian politicians gain wider media exposure than in the past. Zahra Rahnavard, the wife of reformist opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, was highly visible in the 2009 presidential election. Rahnavard, a doctor of political 081-13 2 science, journalist and craftswoman, came back to Iran after the revolution from her exile in the United States, where she had lived when the shah was in power. During the administration of former president Mohammad Khatami, she worked as his political advisor. In 1998 she became the first woman since the revolution to be appointed as university chancellor. She was the chancellor of Tehran’s all-women Al-Zahra University until 2006. Rahnavard also served as the editor-in-chief of an Iranian women’s weekly and published a series of books and articles, mostly about women’s rights. Her presence at the forefront of her husband’s campaign drew comparisons with Michelle Obama, the first lady of the United States. Rahnavard has been under house arrest with her husband since February 2011. In contrast, A’zam Sadat Farahi, the wife of President Ahmadinejad, has made few appearances with her husband. Farahi also avoided media exposure during the presidential campaign. In November 2009 Farahi made a rare public appearance when she came to Italy to take part in a special U.N.-sponsored conference on the problem of global food shortage and even gave a speech there. Since then Farahi has appeared with her husband on a few more occasions. Of all the candidates’ wives in the current presidential election, one in particular deserves special mention: Zahra Sadat Moshir, the wife of Tehran’s Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. A doctor of social science, she got married to Qalibaf in 1983 in a ceremony led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution. 081-13 3 Before her husband was elected the mayor of Tehran in 2005, his wife was not involved in public activity and received no media exposure. After Qalibaf’s appointment for mayor, Moshir became involved in public activity within the municipality and was appointed the mayor’s advisor and director of the municipality’s Department of Women’s Affairs. To avoid nepotism allegations, Qalibaf previously claimed that his wife was not paid for her work in the municipality. In addition to her work as advisor and director of women’s affairs, Moshir is member of the executive board of the Tehran municipality Organization for Culture and Craftsmanship and member of the Press Monitoring Council in Tehran Province. The couple have three children who work in the municipality as well: two sons, Elias and Eshaq, and a daughter, Maryam. The eldest son, Elias, is head of youth affairs, while Meryem works as an advisor to her mother in the municipality. 081-13 4 Qalibaf, Moshir, and their eldest son, Elias Moshir’s activity as director of women’s affairs in the Tehran municipality As part of her job as advisor and director of women’s affairs in the Tehran municipality, Moshir works to advance the status of women in the city, integrate them into executive positions, help solve the social hardships that women face, and extend assistance to women in the areas of education and employment. In interviews given to the Iranian media in recent years, Moshir has made the problem of women who are the sole family providers her top priority. She has noted that she makes extensive efforts to solve the difficulties encountered by these women—for example, by creating markets where they can work and earn a living. In addition, Moshir handles other social hardships plaguing many women who live in Tehran, such as the phenomenon of runaway girls (many of whom turn to prostitution) and women held in prisons. She also has initiated a program to create a special center for women drug addicts. As part of the efforts to deal with the growing phenomenon of divorce in the Iranian society, Moshir has put forward plans to create women’s centers for aid and counseling and for intervention in family crises. In the fall of 2012 Moshir organized a women’s conference in Tehran to discuss various issues pertaining to women, their involvement in the city life, and possible ways to solve the problems that they face. In a lengthy interview she granted in 2008 to the Asr-e Iran website, Moshir argued that she was not using her husband’s help to 081-13 5 promote her programs. She noted that such assistance could have been an indication of her weakness, which is why she preferred to turn to other top municipality officials for help if necessary. Source: http://ghalibaf1392.mihanblog.com Moshir’s stance on the promotion of women at work and in public positions Moshir’s positions on the promotion of women reflect a worldview that blends support for integrating women into the labor market and even pushing them to senior executive positions with a conservative Islamic outlook that emphasizes women’s traditional family roles. In an interview given to Mehr News Agency, Moshir took pride in her alleged success to increase the integration of women into executive roles in the Tehran municipality by 10 percent. She noted that (as at 2008) the Tehran municipality was employing 6,000 women, and that the criterion for promoting employees to executive positions in the municipality was their professional ability rather than gender. However, in an interview recently given by her husband, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf admitted that an instruction he had given in the beginning of his term as mayor to allocate 10 percent of all executive positions in the municipality to women was not actually put in practice due to “resistance from men”. In another press interview, Moshir expressed support for integrating women into the labor market, but stressed that this needs to be done without harming “their feminine 081-13 6 values in accordance with Islam”. She noted that women should not aspire to “become men” or work in masculine occupations. If the dignity of women was preserved in the context of the family, the mayor’s wife said, they would be aware of their feminine values. Women who are content and protected in the family can succeed in society. She gave the Tehran municipality as an example of the required attitude towards women, saying that the municipality treats with respect families that have three daughters. At an international conference of female Quran researchers, Moshir once again stressed the need to strike a balance between promoting women and the need to fulfill their traditional role in the family. She noted that women should be integrated into scientific fields, particularly the study of religion, but stressed that there is no substitute for a woman’s role as a mother, particularly in the first two years of raising children. In an interview to Asr-e Iran, Moshir was asked about her position on promoting women to senior positions in the public sector. She said that, in principle, she supports appointing a woman for mayor, but added that this requires some “groundwork”. She also spoke in favor of appointing a woman into the cabinet, stressing, however, that such an appointment will not be enough to solve women’s problems in society. Speaking about her personal life, Moshir said that she is responsible for most of the household chores and does not expect her husband to help her perform them, even though he does what he can to help and even makes breakfast on Fridays, when he is at home. Her stance on the veil issue In a press interview she gave in 2010 to Fars News Agency, Moshir expressed support for encouraging women to wear a veil as a means to protect their personal space, give them more confidence, and improve their status in society.
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