Iran has been notoriously renowned as a misogynistic state under the outdated laws of the medieval regime. For four decades, Iranian women have been struggling for fundamental rights enjoyed by women in other countries. Iran’s rulers have reacted to any measures by women for freedom and basic privileges by intensifying pressures and restrictions. However, Iranian women have never stopped their efforts and they are considered the forefront in the Iranian people’s struggle for a free Iran.

These days, various pro-mullah outlets boast and tout that the Iranian regime has eventually allowed women into stadiums. The regime pulled this cynical publicity stunt in response to international pressure following the death of Sahar Khodayari, a young woman who set herself ablaze protesting a harsh verdict handed down to her for entering a stadium disguised as a man. Khodayari became known as the “Blue Girl” of Iran.

The facts about the entrance of Iranian women into Azadi Stadium

The Iranian authorities’ attempt to show a goodwill posture, however, was parallel with humiliating and oppressive decisions, including separating the women from men by using fences and establishing a cage. Authorities also assigned a mere 3,500 seats to women, while a large number of men’s seats remained empty. Furthermore, installing a security camera to keep female spectators’ movements under tight control, and dispatching a considerable number of anti-riot and plainclothes agents among the female spectators.

It is also noteworthy that the Iranian regime was forced to open Tehran’s Azadi Stadium for women after the “Iran Blue Girl” tragedy. However, when a young girl raised a banner reading, “Blue Girl of Iran, Your Name is Eternal,” a female anti-riot unit viciously rushed to the scene and arrested her!

In this regard, Philip Luther, the Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director at Amnesty International, described the regime’s plot as: “Iran’s decision to allow a token number of women into the stadium for tomorrow’s football match is a cynical publicity stunt by the authorities intended to whitewash their image following the global outcry over Sahar Khodayari’s tragic death.”

Iranian women at the forefront of the fight for freedom

The reality is that entrance into stadiums is not the final objective for Iranian ladies who live in a state that is the world’s top executioner of women. Many Iranian women resort to suicide as the only avenue to free themselves from catastrophic conditions and an outdated constitution. Therefore, despite the fact that the mullahs have succumbed into permitting women’s entrance to Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, the struggle of women continues.

Iranian women pursue a fundamental change benefiting the entire nation. They struggle for establishing a free and democratic Iran that is in fact represented by a woman: Iranian opposition President Maryam Rajavi.

Mrs. Rajavi is the leader of a movement pioneered by women in the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). She has long established a ten-point plan for guaranteeing women’s rights in Iran, including:

  1. Fundamental freedoms and rights
  2. Equality before the law
  3. Freedom of choosing one’s own clothing
  4. Equal participation in political leadership
  5. Equality in the economic sphere
  6. Equality in the family
  7. Prohibition of violence
  8. Prohibition of sexual exploitation
  9. Repealing Mullahs’ Sharia laws
  10. Social benefits