How the West weaponized women's rights to demonize Ebrahim Raisi
12 Min Read
Al Mayadeen English spoke to women in Iran to investigate where they stand on women's issues in the country as well as whether they are truly "celebrating" their president's demise. What they told us may shock you if you only follow Western media outlets.
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(Designed for Al Mayadeen English by Zeinab Elhajj)
As Iranians flooded the streets to mourn the loss of their late President Ebrahim Raisi, mainstream Western governments and media sources attempted to massively downplay the great sadness that gripped Iran following the unfortunate event.
Raisi, alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and others, tragically died in a helicopter crash on May 19 while en route to Tabriz. Following the accident, millions gathered for funeral processions all over Iran from Tabriz to Qom and Tehran.
The leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, announced that the large turnout of Iranian people at funeral processions for the late President Ebrahim Raisi demonstrates the nation's unwavering loyalty to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The massive funeral ceremonies for the President #Raisi carried a message to the world in favor of the Islamic Republic & showed its popular roots & strength. This is a power & strength that is rooted in the depths of Iranian society & the Iranian nation. pic.twitter.com/NMfaH0K79D
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 24, 2024
Even before the news came out of the unfortunate crash involving the president, Western media outlets like the Daily Mail began reporting on how Iranians- especially women, were “already celebrating," a claim that was widely refuted by any single image of his funeral procession.
This false narrative is being propagated to further the interests of Western administrations' portrayal of Iranian leaders as disliked dictators rather than influential and revered leaders. For much too long, Iran has been portrayed as a backward and suppressive nation, particularly in its treatment of women.
Iran's global position, a testament to Raisi's success
In an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen English Dr. Setareh Sadeghi, an Iranian researcher and host of the Twice Told Tales podcast on YouTube, explained that the campaign to discredit Raisi is largely because "Geopolitically, Iran is doing great and is a serious challenge to US hegemony."
The global concern with Raisi's crash to the moment he was discovered deceased is evidence that he was a truly influential figure.
In a speech honoring Raisi, Hezbollah Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah mentioned that one of the reasons behind the failure of the US policies toward the region is "the denial of reality and detachment from it," and this is easy to witness with the Western downplaying of Raisi's achievements.
During his presidency, Saudi Arabia and Iran saw a return of diplomatic relations along with increased security and financial relations with Russia. He also maintained brotherly ties with neighboring nations like Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Pakistan. His funeral demonstrated a clear connection with influential Arab countries. The number of international leaders who attended his burial showcased his success in countering US sanctions.
Saudi, UAE, and Bahraini foreign ministers along with Yemen's Ansar Allah, Afghanistan's Taliban, and Russian President Vladimir Putin's former advisor all attended. Tunisia's president visited for the first time since the Islamic Republic was initiated, and the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers also paid their respects.
Officials from Qatar, Iraq, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and many more countries also attended.
Raisi was also behind the historical retaliatory strike against "Israel," something Western media was desperate to label as a failure.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in congressional testimony said, "Bearing in mind the horrific acts in which he was involved as a judge and president, and the fact that he cannot be involved in them in the slightest, yes, the Iranian people are probably better off," in response to a question, before adding, "We are definitely not grieving over his death."
Dr. Zohreh Kharazmi, an assistant professor at the University of Tehran divulged to Al Mayadeen English that there was consensus among Iranians that Raisi was “people-oriented,” and “even those critical of him believed in his moral conduct and behavior,” detailing that even his political rivals were saddened by the news of his death. She recalled how women and children waited for more than six hours in the heat of Tehran for the bodies of Raisi and his companions.
The professor explained that Raisi and his foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian navigated the waters of foreign policy in a "rational and professional manner," detailing they were "brave enough to support the resistance while avoiding a direct war with Iran."
Dr. Kharazmi expressed that "This diplomatic management of his response against "Israel" is something that Muslims in the region will not forget for years to come."
Women's rights as a farce
Western governments and media have long used women’s issues as a front to call for regime change in Iran, falsely describing the leadership for decades as repressive towards women.
In 2022, the death of Mahsa Amini, which was blamed on the government by Western governments, only exacerbated the attacks on Iran's reputation and increased Iranophobia in the West.
Western media was in an uproar and many claimed that the 22-year-old Iranian woman's death while under police custody was the result of severe beatings inflicted on her even though no traces of beating or wounds on the head and face were detected.
Iran's Legal Medicine Organization confirmed that Mahsa Amini's cause of death was from complications she endured as a result of a craniopharyngioma surgery at the age of eight.
Nevertheless, Raisi ordered an immediate and thorough investigation into the case, and the riots soon turned violent as protesters engaged in various acts of vandalism and terror by burning the Quran, mosques, banks, and people's cars, and pulling off women’s scarves.
An Iranian parliament spokesperson revealed that nearly 45,000 people were involved in foreign networks of intelligence and terror groups, some of whom had been arrested, and Sayyed Ali Khamenei accused the US and "Israel" of designing the riots and accusing "traitorous Iranians abroad" of aiding them.
By convincing the masses that Iran is involved in numerous human rights abuses, the West desperately holds on to its perceived moral superiority. This self-proclaimed superiority crumbles in the face of reality, where protesters are treated with brutal force if they are not supportive of administrative decisions.
When pro-Palestine demonstrations erupted across the US and Europe on college campuses, video footage saw the police repressing and violently assaulting protesters for daring to protest against the beloved ally, “Israel.”
Rather than encourage and respect the right to peaceful protest, many Western nations particularly the US have gone so far as to accuse the protesters of antisemitism and gone to extreme lengths like passing legislation to silence them.
Police assaulted women with no remorse and in one case, a woman had her hijab forcefully removed in the most vile abuse of her freedom of religion.
US Police forcibly taking out the #hijab of a pro-#Palestine Muslim woman protester at Arizona State University.
— Dr. Raza Khan (@Raza_AKhan) April 30, 2024
Basic human values are compromised just to PLEASE Israel. Why?pic.twitter.com/ZYh6wJbNyn
How do Iranian women feel?
When Al Mayadeen English asked Iranian women how they felt about the president, Dr. Sadeghi expressed that although she did not vote for the late president, she held a great amount of respect for him and recalled witnessing many of her friends and colleagues weeping during his funeral.
This speaks volumes when we compare it to the attitude of voters in the West. Not only do Western governments commonly demonize their opponents, but the voter base is extremely partisan, seldom ever expressing any respect or admiration for those they politically oppose.
In addition, numerous photos from Raisi's funeral showcase women adorned in a loose hijab evidently in anguish over his death. Therefore, it is safe to speculate that this fabricated "crackdown on hijab" by Raisi perpetuated by the West, is nothing more than a farce.
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Mourners attend the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi at Azadi square in Tehran on May 22, 2024. (AFP)
According to Dr. Sadeghi, Raisi's hatred in the West proves he was "doing something right," since he was highly revered for his judicial work in Iran and his fight against corruption.
Concerning those who referred to him as the "butcher of Iran," an accusation commonly circulated on social media following his death, Dr. Sadeghi explained that it was crucial to note that it was the "MEK terror organization, that killed 17,000 Iranians" who first referred to him as such, adding that "it is hard to consider that name a credible one and a majority of Iranians do not remember Raisi as such."
Dr. Sadeghi also highlighted that the MEK was also responsible for "working with the Israeli Mossad to assassinate Iranian scientists and officials."
Sanctions; the true enemy of Iranians
When asked what they thought of the propaganda campaign against Iranians, Dr. Sadeghi explained that Western sanctions harm women more than anyone else in the country and are rooted in cultural imperialism. Therefore, Iranians "cannot buy the cry for women's rights from the West. They do not understand our culture and they do not want to."
She recalled the difficulties she and her American husband encountered when very few countries allowed them both to obtain visas to meet.
"For me and my husband, it's an imperialist plot to make it difficult for Iranians and Americans to meet face to face, because that would shatter a lot of assumptions."
Dr. Kharazmi remarked that people with serious diseases like cancer are suffering from a shortage of medicine and it is the West, not the government, that has caused this suffering for decades.
With a concentration on women’s issues, she explained that the West must uphold an image of Muslim women “needing saving” to “construct cliches and stereotypes that balance against the discrimination and pressures it has of women.”
She elaborated that the rate of violence against women in the EU and US is ignored and the pressure is put on eastern women under the guise of protecting their freedom.
"Thousands of women in Iran in Tehran are highly educated and very professionally involved in STEM, while being great mothers and daughters with fruitful social lives. This is the life experience that is absolutely different than Western media’s portrayal of us."
Dr. Kharazmi also pointed to the double standards of the West when it came to Gazan women. "During the Gaza onslaught how many women were butchered in Israel?" she asked. "Where is the condemnation about women's rights violations by the Israeli occupation forces?"
Where are all the Western feminist charlatans? Where are all the well funded Western "human rights" and "civil society" NGOs?#GazaHolocaust pic.twitter.com/5CuJ2GvfgT
— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) May 29, 2024
She added that Iran does not welcome foreign intervention from the UN in regard to their policies. She acknowledged that Western media amplified footage of Mahsa Amini protests but intentionally left out the thousands of women in Iran who protested in favor of the government and the Hijab.
"None of these gatherings with thousands of people were even remotely covered in Western media. This is crystal clear evidence of double standards," she added, explaining that it was in fact the protests in favor of the government that were being censored by Western media.
She recalled that on a recent trip to India, only 10% of the people she encountered had seen any footage of pro-Hijab protests.
The true human rights are to live with dignity and freedom to pursue one's full potential in the pursuit of happiness. The West and the media empire have convinced people- especially women, that they cannot be considered free unless they have the joint package of sexual immorality and promiscuity. Iranian culture, like many cultures in the East, does not attribute such values to freedom but rather to perversion and objectification of women.
Commonly circulated images of Iran before the Islamic revolution showcase women in skirts with their hair exposed as if that is some kind of measure of how well their society functions. Alas, according to such a shallow worldview, the more women are exposed, the more “free” that society is.
Dr. Sadeghi touches on this by citing that even if there were real problems to address in Iranian society, Iranians would not trust the West because "we are aware of their intentions."
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This ethnocentrism dates back to Western (then Eastern) perceptions of Indigenous people in America as "Savages" and "uncivilized" because of their differences in dress code and behavior compared to the European colonizers. It seems that the West has always been the original morality police and its accusations are merely confessions.
Dr. Sadeghi remarked that Western propaganda aims to portray everything as a women’s issue even if it is a working-class issue since that is the "best way to demonize Iran…and isolate the Iranian nation." She believes that this is rooted in Islamophobia, which in turn is rooted in the main factors that shape Western narratives.
"It's not about women's issues. It's about the economy which is fully ignored by Western mainstream media."
When asked what they would change about Iranian policy, both Dr. Kharazmi and Dr. Sadeghi said they would change the economic situation in Tehran. Both women expressed a great disdain, not for Iranian leaders, but rather for the imperialist powers and their sanctions that have negatively impacted Iranians, especially the women they so often cry to save.
