Jamila Almohaddessy: Iranian Women Did Not Fight for Their Rights Because They Already Enjoy Them
Jamila Almohaddessy announced in an interview that Iranian women did not fight for their rights because they already enjoy them.
Jamila Almohaddessy, wife of Ibrahim Raisi, in an interview with Newsweek magazine, told Tom O’Connor, deputy editor for national security and foreign policy at the publication: “Western-style feminism is not suitable for the Islamic Republic of Iran. Men in Iran prefer not to ask their wives to work or bring money home. Women are considered as individuals who, in their capacity as mothers, wives, or daughters, share love with men. Perhaps it would be very exciting and interesting for you that women in Iran have not fought for their rights because they already enjoy their rights, and this is due to men’s respect for their dignity in society.”
She also, by stating the phrase “Iranian women enjoy the rights they need,” ridiculed the efforts of the United States and other powerful countries to impose their values on Iran and added: “The values that women in the country deserve, from a moral perspective, have actually become laws and regulations. We can share these laws and regulations that are devoted to supporting women in society with you so that you can share them with other parts of the world and see how we deal with those issues.”
She also, while noting that Westerners do not know much about Iran, said: “The feminist movement in other parts of the world has not found its way in Iran either, and this is primarily due to its inclination toward violence, whereas women in Iran prefer peace so as not to be exposed to violence through a feminist approach. This is the striking difference between these two elements. I must admit that Westerners do not know much about Iran, and the reason for the existing misunderstanding is this. They have not delved into the deep relationship between women and men, which is why they view women through a Western lens.
Not all people adhere to society’s standards, but what the West wants to say about women in Iran is a very political matter. Most women in the West feel lonely, and the reason for that is that their families and marriages are less supported. Women, due to their very profound emotions, should be very respected, but women in the West have a lot to do; they work as much as a man to be able to have at least basic living standards. This is the striking difference between women in the West and women in Iran.”
Jamila Almohaddessy’s remarks regarding women’s enjoyment of their rights come despite the fact that not only throughout history have women in society at all levels been under pressure and subjected to laws of the system regarding gender discrimination, but in the past year we have also witnessed their being killed for freedom of speech and seeking freedom. Women and girls who were raped in detention centers and prisons and subsequently committed suicide after release, or women who were shot at close range in their faces and genitals by government officials so that their beauty would be, so to speak, taken away. The rights that Ibrahim Raisi’s wife spoke of are all the rights that the system could not bear, and for which it subjected them to beating, detention, rape, and killing for demanding justice.
