Rouhani Administration Promoting Gender Equality in Iran: Activist

Azar Mansouri, a reformist activist, believes President Hassan Rouhani’s administration was the first government to use the term “gender equality.”

The fact that President Rouhani himself used the phrase “gender equality” raised the hopes of women’s rights activists, said Mansouri in a Farsi interview with Khabar Online.

President Rouhani stressed gender equality during his election campaign, and he has also emphasized it over the recent years, she said.

Mansouri said some positive developments have also taken place such as appointing female governors, designating three female vice-presidents, and the like.

However, she added, this is not enough and more needs to be done to promote gender equality.

She also touched upon women’s role in the political arena.

“If Catherine Ashton and Federica Mogherini, the former and incumbent EU foreign policy chiefs, had not led nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group, the talks would not have gone well,” said the women’s rights activist.