Iranian Female Motorcyclist Aspires for Official License

The Associated Press has reported on a female motorcyclist from Iran, Behnaz Shafiei, who finds life without a motorcycle impossible in a country where women's motorcycling is banned. Girls are not allowed to ride motorcycles at the Azadi Stadium track, so 26-year-old Behnaz and other interested girls practice in the outskirts of cities, meaning they train on non-standard tracks with very low safety coefficients. If you search for her name in domestic news agencies, you will only find comments and interviews with Behnaz Shafiei, the wife of the late Nasser Hejazi. This Behnaz Shafiei is unknown to her compatriots. While the debate over the presence or absence of women in the volleyball hall to cheer for the men's national team is still a topic of discussion and repeated confirmations and denials, she, along with five other girls, is trying to obtain a license from the Motorcycle and Automobile Federation to participate in amateur competitions. Behnaz Shafiei, who performs on a motocross bike, says that if she spends two days without riding her motorcycle, she will become ill. She has expressed that her love for this sport began eleven years ago when she saw a woman riding a small motorcycle. Mahnaz Rahimi, a housewife who happened to be a spectator of Behnaz's motorcycle maneuvers, said: 'I didn't think she was a woman until I noticed her hair. I don't have the courage to do such a thing. She amazed me with how brave women can be.' The Associated Press report continues that women who are spectators at the track come forward to take pictures with Behnaz. She wants to be a pioneer and an inspiration for girls interested in motorcycling; moreover, she hopes to obtain official permission for women to ride motorcycles and to formalize this sport. Motorcycling and automobile racing are under the supervision of a federation, but the situation is much better in men's automobile racing. Laleh Sediq has even competed against male drivers and achieved success. Zahra Vatankhah and Afsaneh Ahmadi are other Iranian female drivers who participated in the World Championship Rally hosted by Turkey to become the first Iranian girls in the history of these competitions. Vatankhah stated in an interview with the sports newspaper Gol that the state of automobile racing in Iran is so painful that even in Tehran, we do not have a dirt track for training and holding rallies.