Iran: Mass Summons of Women Activists to Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts
In a sweeping move, courts officials have summoned a number of Campaign activists to the Revolutionary Courts. Campaign activists began receiving telephone calls over the past weeks to appear in the third security branch of the Revolutionary Courts. -Change for Equality - 11/2/09
Iran’s Rajabi wins gold in Asian Indoor Games
Iranian woman athlete Leila Rajabi won the gold medal in the shot put event of the third Asian Indoor Games in Vietnam on Saturday. Rajabi claimed the championship with a 17.07 meter throw. Athletes from Thailand and China finished second and third respectively. - 10/31/09
Pearls on the Ocean Floor: Documentary about the lives and work of contemporary Iranian women artists
Morono Kiang Gallery in Los Angeles presents a special preview screening of Pearls on the Ocean Floor, a new documentary (in progress) by Robert Adanto, about the lives and work of contemporary Iranian women artists around the world. The segment being presented includes interviews with Afshan Ketabchi, Sara Rahbar, Leila Pazooki, Parastou Forouhar, Shirin Neshat, Negar Ahkami and Pooneh Maghazehe. - 10/22/09
'Mourning Mothers Iran' Stand with Activist Mothers Worldwide
A mother protecting her child isn't anything unique. But in Iran, humanitarian activist mothers are now becoming global icons for human rights causes worldwide. In silent public protest, the 'Mourning Mothers of Iran,' known locally in Tehran as the 'Mothers of Laleh,' stand together each week, on Saturday evening vigils in Tehran's Laleh Park. -Elahe Amani with Lys Anzia - 10/14/09
International award given to Iranian Women
A group of women who risk their lives and liberty to campaign for equal rights in Iran have been given an international Anna Politkovskaya award. -BBC - 10/9/09
Iran: Ajorlou will likely take over as First female governor since revolution
MP Fatemeh Ajorlou is the most favored candidate for the post of Tehran governor, women's news agency IWAN reported. If Ajorlou is picked for the job she will become the first Iranian woman to take such a position since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. - 10/4/09
Iranian Women's Rights Activist Sentenced To Imprisonment
Jelveh Javaheri, member of the One Million Signatures Campaign, has been sentenced to six months imprisonment. Tagheer Baray-e Barabai website reported that she has been sentenced for "gathering and collaborating against national security." - 10/2/09
Ahoo Hamedi: A Promising Iranian Artist
One of Iran's promising young talents is Ahoo Hamedi. She was born in 1981 in Iran. Hamedi studied at the Azad University of Fine Arts, Tehran where she received her BA. Ahoo Hamedi's paintings are matured works of art that bear resemblance to sketches a painter would draw to start a major project. - 9/30/09
Artists Creating Change
In a society like Iran where art is viewed as a gift of the gods and sacred and divine, reducing the position of the artist and artistic creation to the earthly so that she can address tangible issues corresponding with real life concerns is not an easy endeavor. The ability to express and create protest art, so that it objects to the status quo in a constructive, dynamic and creative manner, rather than a mere expression of dissatisfaction is extremely difficult -Tara Nadjd Ahmadi - 9/24/09
Celebrating Iranian American Leaders and the Iran Opportunities Fund
The Institute of International Education (IIE) is proud to honor three women from the Iranian American community in New York � Laya Khadjavi, Roya Khadjavi-Heidari, and Nazgol Saati Shahbazi � with the first-ever IIE Women's Global Leadership Award at the organization's 90th anniversary gala in New York on Wednesday, September 23rd. - 9/17/09
Shirin Neshat Wins Best Director Award at Venice Film Festival
Thanking the jury for the award, she said this film has been a labor of love for six years. She said it is a film that speaks to the people of Iran fighting to find democracy and it speaks to the government of Iran. She added, "I plead to this government to give the people what they should have - basic human rights, freedom and democracy. Make peace with the people of Iran." - 9/13/09
Japan trounces Iran in Women's Volleyball Championship
Japan beat Iran in the 15th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship on Friday. Japan defeated Iran in three straight sets with scores of 25-11, 25-6 and 25-7 for the fifth to eighth places. - 9/13/09
Paula Slater Sculpts Second Portrait Bust of Neda "Angel of Freedom"
The sculptor will unveil and donate this second portrait bust of Neda in bronze, at the Celebrating Iranian Women Conference in Washington, D.C. in mid-November 2009. - 9/11/09
Venice film festival gives voice to Iranian opposition
The Venice film festival is providing a timely forum for Iranian works such as Shirin Neshat's "Women Without Men" amid crackdowns on opposition groups disputing the June elections in their country. - AFP - 9/11/09
Iranian artist denounces lack of freedom in film
Iranian video artist Shirin Neshat has made her first feature film about women's lack of freedom and growing political involvement in 1953 Iran, but she said the story had strong parallels with the situation today. -Reuters - 9/9/09
Iran beats Australia in Asian Women's Volleyball Championship
Iran toppled Australia in the 15th Asian Senior Women's Volleyball Championship on Monday. The Iranian women''s team made incredible progress by entering the top eight of the event. - 9/8/09
Feminist Attorney Speaks Out Against Rape As a Weapon of Torture in Iran
Taraneh Mussavi may or may not be that green-clad girl who was arrested at a demonstration near the Ghaba Mosque on June 27. The girl who was raped, suffered from a torn uterus and a torn anus, landed at a Karaj hospital, and was finally found dead in an unknown cemetery in northern Iran. Regardless, her name is the secret name for all the women who have been raped in prisons since the 1979 Revolution. -Shadi Sadr - 9/8/09
Woman MP, Fatemeh Alia, nominated as Iran's education minister
"In the light of my 20-experience in education… I have been selected as the final choice for the ministry of education," Alia told the Mehr News Agency. - 9/7/09
Iranian American Nasim Pedrad joins Saturday Nights Live
Nasim Pedrad, one of the few Iranian American comedians in US, is the newest hire at Saturday Night Live (SNL). She joins the cast this fall after appearances on ER and Gilmore Girls. - 9/4/09
1st female minister in the history of Islamic Republic of Iran
Mrs. Vahid-Dastjerdi was born in Tehran in 1959. She graduated from Tehran Medical University in medicine and obtained specialized degree in nursing and obstetrics from the same university in 1988 - 9/4/09
Saturday Night Live Adds 2 Performers for Fall Season
Nasim Pedrad, born in Tehran, Iran, previously had a one-woman show, ''Me, Myself & Iran.'' NYT - 9/4/09
IRAN: Backlash Mounts Against Women Ministers
Ayatollah Yousef Tabatabai-Nejad, the Friday Prayer Leader of Isfahan, has argued against the nominations on religious grounds, saying that "women who are ministers will have to be in regular contact with men and their male deputies, and will not be able to adhere fully to their religious obligations." - 9/3/09
Warning on rise in domestic violence
The latest research on domestic violence in Iran was conducted in 1383 (March 2004-March 2005) in 28 of the 32 provinces of the country, which showed that 66 percent of Iranian women have experienced at least one domestic violence in their lives. - 8/30/09
Setback for proposed Iran women ministers
In an internal meeting, the Principlist Islamic Revolution block decided earlier in the week to reject the three females, reported the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) on Friday - 8/29/09
Iran clerics object to women ministers: report
Several Iranian conservative clerics have raised objections to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision to include three women in his new cabinet, the daily Tehran Emrouz reported on Saturday. -AFP - 8/22/09
Female Iranian entrepreneurs sign agreement with IIUM
The Women's Council director in the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Mines (TCCIM) stated that an agreement had been signed between female Iranian businesspersons and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). - 8/21/09
Ahmadinejad Names Women Ministers
In televised remarks Sunday, President Ahmadinejad said he would name Fatemeh Ajorlu as welfare and social security minister, and Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi as minister of health. Dastgerdi is currently a lawmaker. The Iranian leader did not name a third female minister, but said there would be at least one other woman in the Cabinet. - 8/16/09
Iranian woman futsaller linked to Spanish team
Behnaz Khayyat may be the first Iranian woman futsal player who plays abroad. The Tejaratkhaneh Hormozgan keeper has been linked to a Spanish futsal club. The name of the team has not been mentioned. - 8/2/09
No fertile ground for businesswomen: Iranian Official
There exists no fertile ground for Iranian women to engage in economic activities, the women's council director in Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Mines (TCCIM) said in Tehran recently. - 7/26/09
Iranian woman wins gold in World Games Sanshou
Zahra Karimi claimed a gold medal in the Wushu Competition's Sanshou [combat] event of the World Games 2009 on Thursday. - 7/24/09
Documentary: We are half of Iran's population
This amazing film, produced by Iranian director Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, has documented how a wide coalition of women was formed in Iran, prior to the June 2009 presidential elections, in order to make their demands heard and to effectively influence the candidates. All but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accepted the invitation to attend a special screening. The other other candidates, Mehdi Karrubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mohsen Rezaei, attended along with their wives. - 7/22/09
Ebadi Urges Solidarity With Iran's 'Mourning Mothers'
Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has called on women around the world to express solidarity with mourning mothers in Iran by wearing black and gathering once a week in their neighborhood parks. - 7/20/09
Afghan Bill Aims To Criminalize Discrimination Against Women
In Afghanistan, anyone who bars a woman from attending school, going to work, or visiting a doctor could soon face prison time. A bill on eliminating violence against women that has been in the works for years is now taking its final shape... - 7/20/09
Women prisoners staging play in Shiraz
Shiraz is currently hosting seven women sentenced to death or life imprisonment on stage with the play "New Birth" at the Abureihan Hall. The play, directed by Sirus Mahbudi, is being warmly received in the city, the Persian service of ISNA reported. - 7/15/09
In exile, an Iranian ‘lion’ keeps fighting
The “Lion Woman’’ of Iran (Fatemeh Haghighatjoo) sits outside her 10th-floor office atop the main library at the University of Massachusetts-Boston campus, chafing with frustration as she talks of the turbulence shaking her homeland. - 7/14/09
Paying Homage To The Iranian Women
Iranian woman have been in the forefront of the uprising , demanding their rights walking shoulder to shoulder with their brothers and paying a heavy price. I pay homage to them in my latest project; it's a way for me to join their calls for freedom. We do not want to forget their courage! -Niki Koohpaima - 7/9/09
Why We say "No" to the Compulsory Hijab?
Fatemeh Sadeghi has a Ph.D. in political science and has taught at the Islamic Azad University of Karaj near Tehran. She is the daughter of Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali. The following are translated excerpts from an article entitled "Why the Hijab?" which she published in the feminist website Meydaneh Zan (Women's Field) on May 14, 2008. - 7/8/09
Women in protests: head scarves and rocks
For years, women’s defiance in Iran came in carefully planned flashes of hair under their head scarves, brightly painted fingernails and trendy clothing that could be glimpsed under bulky coats and cloaks. But these small acts of rebellion against the theocratic government have been quickly eclipsed in the wake of the disputed June 12 presidential elections. -Bennington Banner - 7/7/09
Feminist waves in the Iranian Green Tsunami?
As pictures of women, young and old, religious and non-religious, have plastered our Internet and TV screens chanting and bleeding for a recount in what many in Iran believe has been a fraudulent presidential election result in June 2009, their extraordinary heroism and sheer numbers have awaken the international media to the sizable female presence in the Iranian Green Movement -Golbarg Bashi - 7/6/09
Iranian girl wins gold in Asian Youth Games
Iran's Nazanin Golahmadi claimed the gold medal in the shot put event of the 1st Asian Youth Games on Wednesday. The 15-year-old shot putter defeated Fatima Omar Ba from Qatar in the girls' shot put finals earning the first gold medal for her country. - 7/1/09
Women At Forefront Of Iranian Protests
During last week's demonstrations in Tehran and other cities, women of all ages and segments of society were seen at the forefront of the protests. Some were holding banners; chanting slogans; defying police. Some were seen beating back Basij militia and plainclothes agents who were attacking protestors with sticks. - 6/23/09
Iran Women First, Men Third in Asian Canoe Polo Championships
Iran came first and third in the 13th round of Asian Canoe Polo Championships in Hualien, eastern Taiwan. The competitions kicked off on June 12th were wrapped up on Sunday as Iranian women canoe polo players beat Singaporean representatives (3-1) in finals and stood first. - 6/14/09
How Social Movements Can Change Iran
According to many in Iran, the country's June 12 presidential elections constitute a great "opportunity." It's important to note, however, that the so-called opportunity brought about by the election does not necessarily reflect a heightened degree of openness � or of control � of the political atmosphere; -Noushin Ahmadi Khorasani - 6/12/09
Iranian women activists step up their efforts
Women activists in Iran have been taking advantage of the openness created due to the upcoming presidential elections. In particular, they have stepped up their efforts to make the general public aware about their demands for equal rights. -Feminist School - 6/11/09
WHAT IS IN A SIGNATURE?
Depends, of course, on the text you are about to sign and the laws you are subject to. It may mean the payment of your utility bill or your freedom to work, to travel; well it could be your life you are signing away. Let's say you are an Iranian woman signing your marriage contract. It means once you get married, you will become a second class citizen -WWHR interviews Sussan Tahmasebi - 6/11/09
Iranian Presidential Contenders Court Women Voters
For the first time in Iran's 30-year history of presidential elections, candidates are going all out to win over female voters, making a flurry of last-minute appeals before Friday's balloting. Today's campaigns are a departure from the past, when candidates spoke of women voters in general terms, mostly centered on their respect for a mother's role in society or through economic assistance to widows. -Farnaz Fassihi, WSJ - 6/11/09
Power of women in Iran's election
President Ahmadinejad often speaks of women as the heart of this society. He talks of empowering them and makes much of his plan to provide insurance for housewives and share Iran's oil wealth with poorer families. But Mr Mousavi has - for Iran - an unusual political asset; his wife, Zhara Rahnavard. -BBC - 6/10/09
Iranian women make history in Asian wushu
Elahe Mansourian, Iran's minus 48 kg representative, beat her Chinese opponent and bagged the gold medal in Sanshou (weapons form). Iranian women made history on Tuesday because for the first time Iran clinched gold in sanshou. - 6/9/09
Iranian Women Demand Change
This week, one of Iran's leading women's rights activist, Sussan Tahmasebi, stopped by NPR to speak to Scott Simon about Iran's upcoming Presidential elections. - 6/8/09
Iranian woman Mahsa Dehghan wins gold in Asian Wushu
Iranian woman Mahsa Dehghan claimed a gold medal on Sunday in the 5th Asian Junior Wushu Championships. The Iranian chalked up 8.70 points in taolo(form), followed by Malaysian and Kazakhstan wushu players who got 8.65 and 8.60 respectively. - 6/7/09
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