The No. 2 man in the clerical regime in Iran who purports to be a moderate addressed women in message on the eve of parliamentary elections.
He ostensibly praised women for the place in history and the Quran, and for their scientific and educational achievements, but blames them for their low percentage of economic and political participation revealing his medieval outlook on women.
Rafsanjani said, “A glance over the history of women’s participation in nine parliaments shows that the cause of what made women discontented today, goes back to them as half of the population who do not believe in themselves and their powers. If they did, they could have prepared the logical and rational grounds for reform of the laws or new legislations.”
In this way, Rafsanjani attempts to justify the regime’s crimes against Iranian women and the restrictions imposed on their social, economic and political participation since the mullahs took power in Iran in 1979.
(Official IRNA news agency, December 8, 2015)
