The Story of an Iranian Woman

Interview with Iran's Ex-Vice President

Massoumeh Ebtekar has influenced the integration of environmental considerations into the industry and energy sectors in Iran.

Ebtekar has led efforts to solve air-pollution problems in Tehran. She has also influenced the integration of environmental considerations into the industry and energy sectors in Iran.

A faculty member at the Immunology Department in Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Ebtekar is one of the establishers of the Center for Peace and Environment in Tehran. Interestingly, Ebtekar, who holds a doctorate in immunology, was one of the students who participated in the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.

As we read about a woman like Massoumeh Ebtekar, many questions cross our minds, such as Why are women's rights always linked to their appearance? Why is a woman in her bathing suit more "liberated" than a revolutionary woman in her chador?

The media tries to sell to the world the "veil = submission" equation. While Western audiences are showered all the time with images of "oppressed" veiled women, the "liberation" of Afghanistan was celebrated by parading a US-based Afghan woman in a beauty pageant.

Below is the text of an interview conducted with Massoumeh Ebtekar by email on May 10, 2006.

IOL: Please tell us a little about yourself.

Ebtekar: I was born to a middle-class, educated, and religious family in Tehran in 1960. In 1963, my father was granted a scholarship to complete his doctorate, so he decided to go to the United States. We lived there, and after completing his studies, my father was offered a job in NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration].

My father, who was a religious nationalist by nature, rejected the offer and we came back to Iran in 1969. I studied in an international school in Tehran. During my final years of high school, I became familiar with the ideas of Dr. Ali Shariati (an Iranian Islamic thinker and scholar) and thus, I got engaged in the trends of thought that paved the way for the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

In 1978, I enrolled at a university in Tehran and I decided to study engineering. During my university years, I became engaged with the Islamic student movement tightly linked with the revolution. I was one of the students who took over the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979. I wrote my memoirs on the incident, which were finally published in 2000 by a Canadian publisher after American publishers refused them.

I started my academic career as an assistant professor of immunology in Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran in 1993. Since then, I have also become involved with women's issues and NGOs in a vast array of activities, which led to my election in 1996 as the president of Women's NGO Network, which includes more than 70 Iranian NGOs.

I continued my studies in Iran until I obtained my doctorate in immunology in 1995.

In 1995, I led the national preparatory process for the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. I was appointed in 1997 as the first woman vice-president in the Islamic Republic of Iran by President Muhammad Khatami to serve in his reformist cabinet. I was also head of the Department of Environment.

During eight years of intensive work, we endeavored to integrate the sustainable development agenda in the process of planning and implementation for a rapidly developing country. I left office in 2005 with the election of the new president who had a different agenda. I was awarded the 2006 Champion of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Program.

Together with a group of former colleagues, I have established the NGO, Center for Peace and Environment. I am currently a faculty member at the Immunology Department in Tarbiat Modares University. I teach and conduct research in field of cellular and molecular immunology, and supervise master's of science and doctorate theses.

IOL: Can you tell us your personal reflections on how it is like to live under an Islamic government?

Ebtekar: The Islamic Republic of Iran has faced a turbulent history and challenges from all sides. The challenge of interpreting Islamic teachings to meet the evolving needs of society in an objective manner, the quest for practical solutions to economic and social problems, the clash between religious norms and freedom, the interface between democracy and Islamic values are all contentious issues that the country has been facing for the past three decades.

The advances in all aspects are evident. The face of Iran has changed drastically during the past decade particularly: Standards of living have been improved; 88 percent of Iranians are now literate as compared to less than 50 percent before the revolution; 98 percent of Iranian children now have access to primary education at no cost; higher education has boomed; and more than 250,000 Iranian youth have entered universities, 64 percent of whom have been women for the past 3 years.

Iran enjoys the highest rate of scientific and technological growth in west Asia. Economic growth reached a peak of 6.5 percent last year due to the policies of the reformist government. Health and social welfare standards have been on a steady rise. Environmental issues, which have contributed to the campaign for improving the quality of life in Iran, have been high on the agenda of the government of President Khatami. Yet we still have a long way to go because the expectations of the young generations in Iran are high; they expect the best both spiritually and materially.

IOL: Can you give us an evaluation of the conditions of women in Iranian society?

Ebtekar: Iranian women have taken the favorable opportunities created for them in the Islamic Republic and have moved forward. Progressive interpretation and legislation on marital rights and women's issues have enabled the legislative and the judicial systems to move forward on these issues although there have been setbacks and conservative forces still seek to limit and control these advances.

The most stunning advances of Iranian women are evident in the field of education. There is also growth in the number of women holding managerial posts, as well as the number of women participating in urban and rural councils. Also, women's entrepreneurship roles have been on a steady rise. The 2005 United Nations Human Development Report has acknowledged a significant rise in the Gender Development Index (GDI) of Iran.

The presence of Iranian women in the social sphere is very evident today. The contentious issue of the obligatory covering is a constant issue of debate. I believe that Iranian women still have a long way to go.

Out of 290 members of Parliament, 14 are women. Three thousand women are members of municipal councils. Two women have been cabinet members since President Khatami decided to include women in the government in 1997.

Women in Iran are very outspoken, although the conservative government that is now in power may impose certain restrictions and limit their ambitions. Despite this, it seems that women are on the rise, and this is an inevitable trend that we need to recognize.

IOL: Please tell us about your experience as the vice president.

Ebtekar: As the first woman vice president, I was well received by my colleagues in the Department of Environment and in the government. I felt that a synergism between the environmental agenda of the country and the women's campaign assisted our work very much. I think this courageous decision of President Khatami left an indelible impression on ours, as well as other Islamic societies, as to the real potentials of practicing Muslim women in Islamic societies.

During my visit to Indonesia in 2000, I met with Mrs. Megawati Sukarno, who was then the president of Indonesia. She told me that when she was elected as the first female vice president, some scholars objected, arguing that Islamic teachings did not allow women to be assigned leadership positions; however, her party made the argument that a woman had been appointed as the vice president in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

IOL: You said that you were one of the students involved in the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Can you talk to us about that incident?

Ebtekar: The event and my role will require a lengthy response. I prefer to refer the readers to the first memoirs written by an Iranian involved in the event in English. My book, Takeover in Tehran, was published in 2001 by Talon Books

IOL: How do you explain the successive losses of reformists in municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections? Some people believe that the losses of the reformists are the result of the people's disillusionment with the rhetoric on reform. Do you think that this is true?

Ebtekar: There are diverse and complicated trends in the Iranian society which have resulted in the outcome of the latest elections. The very conservative political groups who have been criticizing the governments in power up to now are required to show how they intend to realize their slogans and how they will fulfill the huge promises they have made to the people.

The reform movement is an integral part of all viable societies, particularly those that claim to be Muslim. The reformist government has achieved a lot for Iran; however, its achievements were not properly portrayed by the state-controlled radio and television.

The reform process is alive in the Iranian civil society. It is also alive in the minds and hearts of millions of Muslim youth in Iran and other parts of the world who prefer to adhere to a non-violent, peaceful yet dignified and progressive interpretation of Islam as opposed to the aggressive and violent image the Western media likes to promote today.

Sources:

Hale, Sondra. The West and Veiling. UCLA Forum "On Veiling and the Media," Los Angeles, sponsored by UCLA G.S. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies and New York and Columbia Universities. May 20, 1998.

Dina Abdel-Mageed staff writer for the Muslim Affairs section of IslamOnline. A graduate of the American University in Cairo, she holds a BA in Political Science with special interest in Public and International Law.