Najafi Has Not Yet Assigned Any Women to Positions in Tehran Municipality

The newspaper Shargh criticized Tehran's mayor for not issuing any responsibility orders to women since he took office. In its issue on Tuesday (September 12), the newspaper reported in an article titled "Absent Women in Paradise" that Mohammad Ali Najafi has issued orders for 13 individuals in the past 20 days, all of whom share the common trait of being "male." Among these 13 individuals are five deputies, one general director, six district mayors, as well as the CEO and editor-in-chief of the Hamshahri press institute. The newspaper noted that these appointments have occurred despite the promises made during the electoral campaign and in the days following the elections, where elected members of the Tehran City Council have always spoken about the necessity of choosing a number of women managers for urban management. According to this report, what has happened so far is "contrary to previous promises." The reporter wrote that while in nearly 50 major cities around the world, including Baghdad, which is neighboring Iran, the responsibility of the municipality has been entrusted to women, in Tehran, despite the reformists holding 21 seats in the City Council, "there has not yet been news of the appointment of even one woman as an urban manager." Nahid Khodakarami, a member of the Tehran City Council, also stated in an interview with Shargh that at least "we should use women and younger individuals in the second tier of management and select experienced advisors and deputies for them." Khodakarami added that "it is very painful that the creativity and innovation of our women and youth are not utilized, forcing them to either emigrate or fall into depression and disillusionment." The newspaper also reported that these new male appointments by the Tehran mayor were issued while members of the Tehran City Council held a closed meeting with Najafi the previous day, where some council members identified the focus of this meeting as "utilizing the potential of women and youth in the municipality." The Shargh reporter also noted the beginning of campaigns on social media to fulfill the promise of assigning part of the urban management responsibilities to women, calling for the selection of several district mayors from among women. The newspaper also criticized the failure of efforts to introduce a female minister after the twelfth presidential election. Despite speculation about the introduction of a female minister, Hassan Rouhani stated on the day he introduced his new cabinet to the Islamic Consultative Assembly that "I really wanted to select three female ministers, the options were clear, but it did not happen." However, Rouhani did not provide any explanation regarding the possible reasons for this "failure" and merely passed the ball to women, stating at an iftar banquet with women and family activists that "women need to make more effort to participate in management fields." He added that "it is clear that a woman who has not been in management positions cannot suddenly be placed in a high management position; rather, steps must be taken gradually. Today, the women of the country have taken a significant step towards advancement and taking charge of affairs, which, of course, must be done with more patience; there are obstacles and problems ahead, but these obstacles will be removed." The Shargh newspaper, by publishing this part of Rouhani's remarks, raised the question of "in what field and area should women test their management abilities and gain experience to reach high management levels?" According to this newspaper, "in a situation where they are not utilized in ministerial positions, no governor is selected from among them, and there are numerous restrictions for issuing orders for governorship for women, and even in a place like the municipality, where it is possible to utilize the managerial capabilities, knowledge, experience, and taste of women, they are not used, when will the potential of women in management levels be utilized?" The Shargh reporter wrote that while there have been many reports of women being elected as council heads, village heads, mayors, or district heads in some "deprived" provinces of the country, there is still no news in this regard in a place like Tehran. The newspaper noted that the appointment of Narges Madani Pour as the mayor of District 13 by Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the former mayor of Tehran, last year, added that "a significant portion of the supporters and voters of the Hope List in Tehran and other major cities have been women and youth... part of their expectations and demands is the selection of managers of their own kind for urban management." Although Rouhani appointed three women in his government as deputies and assistants, the failure to introduce a female minister despite numerous requests, including a request from 175 members of parliament, has drawn criticism from some political and civil activists. Although he and his close associates have not commented on the reasons for not introducing a female minister, some members of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, including Minister of Culture Mohammad Hosseini, had previously stated in interviews that religious authorities opposed the introduction of a female minister. Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the Hope faction in parliament, criticized the failure to introduce a female minister in Rouhani's cabinet in a speech on Thursday, August 11, stating: "We must investigate where the root cause lies."