Azar Mansuri became the first woman to lead a political party in Iran after being appointed secretary general of the Islamic People’s Union, a reformist group that ran in the 2016 elections alongside former President Mohamed Khatami.
Mansuri, 57, is an important name in the Iranian reformist wing. In 1997, he was even part of Khatami’s team of advisers, with whom he worked for eight years. In the internal elections, the party forced itself on several male opponents, according to Europa Press.
The politician was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for participating in demonstrations in 2009, motivated by suspicions of electoral manipulation, as a result of which Mahmu Ahmadinejad received a second term.
Since then, the Iranian regime has viewed Mansuri as an uncomfortable voice, despite the fact that the Islamic People’s Union is virtually non-existent in parliament with a conservative majority. The June presidential election, which was won by the conservative Ebrahim Raisi, proved to be a new example of the dispute between the conservative and moderate wings.
Mansuri’s rise to leadership of the Islamic People’s Union represents a notable milestone in the presence of women in Iranian politics. The position of women in society is very fragile – for example, they depend on their husband’s permission to leave the country, and they have fewer inheritance rights – and their political expression reflects this reality.
Raisi’s predecessor, Hassan Rohani, who was considered moderate, was criticized by gender equality activists for doing little to advance reforms that empower women. Rohani did not keep her promise to create a women’s ministry and increase the presence of women in her government (only two, and not one as a minister).
