From the Dream of Women's Presidency in Iran to the Aspiration for Full Equality in the World

In recent decades, the share of women in power around the world has significantly increased, yet structural, religious, and legal barriers in the Islamic Republic continue to obstruct women from entering the power structure in general and from becoming president in particular. As expected, in the 14th presidential election, the qualifications of the women who had registered as candidates were rejected by the Guardian Council, just like in previous elections. Who were these women? Currently, how many female presidents, prime ministers, and heads of state are there in the world, and does the political and social structure of countries affect the process of women gaining power and facilitating gender equality? Despite knowing the zero probability of women becoming president in the Islamic Republic, among the 80 individuals who registered for the 14th presidential election, four were women. Zahra Elhian, Hajar Chenarani, and Rafat Bayat from the conservative faction, and Hamideh Zarabadi from the reformist faction registered for candidacy in this election. This was the first time that specifically conservative women took action for the presidential election, and among these four women, Hajar Chenarani was the only one whose electoral slogan was politically related to women. She announced that she wanted to 'demand women's share of political seats.' As anticipated, none of these four women's qualifications were approved. According to Article 115 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the president must be selected from among 'religious and political men'; a term that, after more than four decades of the current regime in Iran, still lacks a clear interpretation both according to the constitution and the Guardian Council's regulations. Interestingly, despite this, Tahaan Nazif, the spokesman for the Guardian Council, stated in a meeting held simultaneously with the registration of candidates that the registration of women in elections is 'unobjectionable,' but at the same time linked their qualification approval to this constitutional principle. Ultimately, as in the previous 13 presidential elections in Iran, no woman appeared on the final list of candidates. All of this is while even if a woman were to hypothetically reach this position in the Islamic Republic, the highest authority in the country is not the president, and all matters are under the control of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic as the 'Guardian Jurist.' 'Being a woman' in Iran as narrated by 10 global indicators. Over the past few decades, women in some countries have managed to overcome political, social, and legal barriers to eventually attain the presidency of the state and government, but in some countries like Iran, no woman has been allowed or has been able to overcome these barriers. This issue is not only related to the political and legal structure of countries; if on one side, Saudi Arabia has not experienced a woman coming to power due to extensive political and social restrictions, on the other side, for example, in the United States, despite over 230 years of electoral history, no woman has ever become president. Generally, women around the world have traveled a long and difficult path to gain the right to vote, participate in political activities, and become leaders, and they still have a long and hard road ahead. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, a politician from Iceland, was the first woman in the world to be democratically elected as president in 1980, and her 16-year presidency remains the longest term of a female elected leader of a country to date. Although the spread of female leadership in governments has been expanding over the past few decades, Europe remains the region with the highest concentration of countries led by women. In addition to Iceland, which has experienced three female presidencies in the past four decades, Switzerland has seen women in power five times and Finland four times. Among European countries where one of the two positions of president or prime minister is currently held by a woman are Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, North Macedonia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Currently, out of 193 countries in the world, there are about 15 female presidents, about 15 female prime ministers, and 10 women in various leadership positions. Thus, it can be said that currently, approximately one in every five countries in the world is led by a woman. A detailed examination of these statistics shows that, apart from Europe, a diverse range of countries from other parts of the world are also on this list. For instance, the current presidents of Ethiopia and Tanzania in Africa and the prime ministers of Equatorial Guinea, Togo, and Uganda in this impoverished continent are women. However, Asia, as the largest continent in the world, which includes 52 countries and eight colonies, has a very small share of female leadership both in number and ratio. Nevertheless, the possibility of a woman, sister, or daughter of the North Korean leader coming to power could be one of the surprising female leaderships, albeit not in the near future. Regarding 'Daughter 68,' the first female president of Mexico, what do we know? One of the new records in female presidency relates to the victory of 'Claudia Sheinbaum' in Mexico this year. Thus, for the first time, a woman has won in a nationwide election in the combined region of the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Women need to make extra efforts compared to men to achieve equal positions and to prove their capabilities, and it seems that with a better understanding of the situation of their peers in society, they can more purposefully strive to improve their conditions. Katrín Jakobsdóttir, the Prime Minister of Iceland, when she joined a nationwide one-day women's strike in late 2023, said her dream is for her country to achieve 'full gender equality' before 2023. Ms. Jakobsdóttir, citing UN estimates, stated that at the current pace of progress, it would take 300 years for the world to reach this equality and emphasized that 'it is unacceptable' for women around the world to wait so many years to achieve this important goal.