Protests Over Exclusion of Two Female Members from Mashhad City Council at Stadium Opening Ceremony

The exclusion of two female members of the Mashhad City Council from the opening ceremony of Imam Reza Stadium, where a match between the Mashhad team and the Karbala team will take place, has led to protests from five other council members and the head of the Women's Faction in Parliament. ISNA reported on Saturday, September 16, that the Astan Quds Razavi invited 13 members of the Mashhad Council to the opening ceremony, but Shahnaz Ramarm and Batoul Ghandami, the two female members, were not invited. Meanwhile, Amir Shahla, Mojtaba Baharvand, Mohammad Hossein Vadi'i, Masoud Riazi, and Mohammad Hajian, five members of the city council, announced that they would not attend the ceremony in protest against the absence of women at the stadium, especially the exclusion of the two council members. Ebrahim Raisi is the custodian of Astan Quds Razavi, and Ahmad Alamolhoda is the representative of the Supreme Leader in Khorasan Razavi Province and the Friday Prayer Imam of Mashhad. In recent years, several music concerts in Khorasan Razavi Province have been canceled due to Mr. Alamolhoda's opposition to holding concerts in the province. While ISNA reported that Astan Quds was the organizer of this event and did not invite the two female members of the Mashhad City Council, Shahnaz Ramarm, who was not invited, tweeted that 'the exclusion of women from the opening ceremony of a stadium, especially by government officials and the provincial football federation, contradicts the government's approach of hope and prudence.' Meanwhile, Parvaneh Salahshouri, head of the Women's Faction in Parliament, stated that this action 'is absolutely unacceptable.' She emphasized that the Football Federation 'does not have the authority' to issue orders excluding female officials. Some female parliament members were invited to the Iran-Syria match, but Parvaneh Salahshouri announced that she would not attend the stadium until women are allowed to enter stadiums in the country. On the day of the Iran-Syria match, several women who had previously purchased tickets online were left outside the Azadi Stadium and were not allowed to enter. Mehdi Taj, the head of the Iranian Football Federation, stated after the match that the federation is not structurally or physically prepared to accept women in stadiums. Iranian women have been striving for years to enter stadiums, especially football stadiums, but government officials continue to deny them access to sports fields. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a directive allowing women to enter stadiums in 2006, but it was not implemented due to opposition from religious authorities. Officials in Hassan Rouhani's government promised to resolve the issue of women's entry into stadiums, but this promise has not been fulfilled so far. Meanwhile, Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president, stated on Thursday, September 14, that 'some prevented women from entering the stadium. Do you think you did a good job? Women's presence in stadiums is a demand.' Mr. Jahangiri did not provide further explanations on this matter. On the same day, Morteza Bank, an advisor to Hassan Rouhani, stated that 'steps have been taken in this regard and more steps will be taken.' Mr. Bank also did not refer to the details of these government actions. In recent months, there has been a wave of requests from parliament members, players, and veterans of Iranian football to facilitate women's entry into stadiums. In this context, Masoumeh Ebtekar stated that Iranian women faced discrimination in the Iran-Syria football match. Najafi has not yet assigned any women to positions in the Tehran municipality. The changing battlefield of 'proxies'; war against the people in the streets of Iran. The first paragraph; the responsibility of opponents and the possibility of radicalizing Iranian society. The death of the last Mossad representative in Tehran amid the Iran crisis. 1300 hours of internet outages; Witkoff: A horrific massacre occurred during the protests in Iran.