Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, may have pledged to promote women's rights and recently nominated a female vice president. But, if a striking image captured during Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's introduction is any indication, Iran still has a long way to go when it comes to gender equality.

In the photo taken earlier this month, female journalists sit on the floor and take notes during the inauguration. They are surrounded by men, many of whom are seated in chairs.

Last week, 27-year-old Iranian architect Nina Siahkali Moradi made global headlines when she was denied a seat in Qazvin City Council in Iran because, according to global headlines, she was deemed "too attractive" for office. 

Despairing news from Iran...

Nina Siahkali Moradi, 27, was barred from taking up her seat in Qazvin by the conservative electoral review board.
An electoral candidate who won a place on a city council in Iran has reportedly been barred from taking up the seat because she is too attractive.During the polls in the city of Qazvin, 27-year-old Nina Siahkali Moradi received 10,000 votes, placing her 14th out of 163 candidates.

For a moment it looked as if she was going to tear her headscarf off. The large, colourfully dressed woman in the crowds thronging Tehran's Kaj Square did not speak much English, but she had no problems making herself understood.

 Iranian women are demanding a larger role in politics ahead of the country’s June presidential election even while remaining true to tradition by donning the Islamic veil. Iran's presidential election campaigns are in full swing, and women have seized on this voting opportunity to make their voices heard.

Iran's presidential election is offering a flicker of hope to activists hoping to revive women's rights after they deteriorated during the eight years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency.

As Iran prepares to hold a presidential election Friday, many women say that their limited gains have been rolled back by the outgoing president, Mahmoud Ahmadineja

A group of United Nations independent human rights experts today warned that unreasonable limitations placed on the right of Iranian citizens to stand for Presidential office, discrimination against women candidates for elections and ongoing restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, constitute a serious violations of rights guaranteed by international law.