Iran's Mousavi vows to review laws 'unfair' to women

Al-Shorfa and wire services
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-06-02

Supporters hand out electoral posters with pictures of Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi after Friday prayers in Tehran, May 29. (Reuters/Raheb Homavandi)

TEHRAN – Iranian presidential hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi vowed May 30 to review laws which are "unfair" to women if he wins next month's election.

In a speech delivered to 1,500 women in Tehran, Mousavi said he will "review all laws which are deemed discriminatory and unfair to women”.

Addressing cheering women who chanted “Mousavi! Mousavi!”, the moderate candidate, who served as prime minister during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq, said he would work towards taking moral police patrols off the streets if elected in the June 12 poll.

Over the past few years, such patrols have strictly enforced the Islamic dress code for women in Iran and especially in Tehran. Women who are deemed inappropriately dressed are usually hauled to a detention centre where they must sign a pledge promising to dress properly.

Mousavi's wife, Zahra Rahnavard, also spoke to the crowd as people chanted, "Remove the moral police!” Clad in a traditional black chador and a colourful scarf, she said, “We should prepare the ground for an Iran where women are treated without discrimination.”

She continued, "We should reform laws that treat women unequally. We should empower women financially; women should be able to choose their professions according to their merits, and Iranian women should be able to reach the highest level of decision making bodies.”

The crowd was also addressed by high-profile speaker Masoumeh Ebtekar, the first Iranian woman vice-president who was appointed during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005).

She urged Mousavi to improve women’s rights in Iran. "We ask you [Mousavi] to make the change", she said.

Mousavi has emerged as the main challenger in the June election to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is seeking a second term in office.

Mehdi Karoubi, a reformist former speaker of parliament, and Mohsen Rezai, a conservative who previously headed the Revolutionary Guards, are also standing in the presidential election.

[AFP]

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