Middle East
In Iran, Ahmadinejad joins battle over women’s fashions
In the Islamic republic of Iran, the law requires women to cover their hair and bodies in public. But how to do so remains up to them, and the result is persistent confusion in the streets. Now, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is stepping into the dispute. He wants to settle it by promoting government-approved apparel for women, garments intended to introduce an array of clothes that are Islamic and beautiful at the same time. Hard-liners are not amused. They say that the new designs encourage "Western values." But at a recent government-sponsored fashion show, young women and their mothers gazed approvingly at the plastic mannequins showcasing the new coats and scarves.
Nobel Women’s Initiative highlights prison case of Iran attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh
Iran fires up voters with partial lifting of water pipe ban
Iran to women: No skiing unless with a male guardian
Iranian Cleric Mohsen Ghara’ati Blames Women Opposing Polygamy
In his weekly televised lessons aired on IRIB Channel 1, Iranian cleric Mohsen Ghara'ati blamed women for opposing polygamy and standing in the way of their husbands who wish to get a second wife. Hojat-ol-Islam Mohsen Ghara'ati is the head of the Center for the Promotion of Prayers and a Muslim scholar teaching and promoting the Quran.
Report Shows Abortion Frequent in Tehran
According to a study by Amir Erfani, entitled "Induced Abortion in Tehran, Iran: Estimated Rates and Correlates," many women in Tehran obtain abortions, despite Iran's highly restrictive abortion laws. Erfani reports that approximately "one in six married women of reproductive age in Tehran will have an abortion in their lifetime" or 9 percent of pregnancies, women undergo an abortion.
Women who violate headscarf law should be stripped of passports
Women’s movement activists release statement in protest to increase in violence against women in Iran
Female prisoner commits suicide to protest conditions
Ahmadinejad and clerics fight over scarves
Every summer, Iranian police get tough on women who violate the country s strict Islamic dress code by adjusting their veils and long coats to try to cope with the rising temperatures. But this year, amid the annual crackdown, the issue of how women wear the veil - and what the government does about it - has become part of an intensifying rift between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and powerful Shiite clerics.
IRAN Activist and documentary filmmaker seized; reasons undisclosed
Renowned filmmaker Mahnaz Mohammadi was taken from her Tehran home Sunday by unidentified security forces for "unknown" reasons, reported the Iranian opposition website Kaleme. According to the website of former premier Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the prominent women's rights activist may have been seized by intelligence services of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.