The Only Woman in the Proposed Cabinet List of Pezeshkian and Her Difficult Path in the Conservative Parliament

Farzaneh Sadegh Malavijerd, the only woman on Masoud Pezeshkian's proposed cabinet list, was born in 1976 in Hamadan. Her father was a casualty of the Iran-Iraq war, and according to some reports, Mohammad Eslami, the former Minister of Roads, appointed her as Deputy for Architecture and Urban Planning on the anniversary of her father's death in December 2018; a position that was later downgraded to an advisory role by Mehrdad Bazrpash in Ebrahim Raisi's government. Ms. Sadegh's name was announced as a candidate for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development at a time when several representatives immediately expressed their strong opposition to her appointment as soon as the proposed ministerial list was read by Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in the open session. The loud shouts of "two, two"—indicating a vote against—echoed in the parliament as her name was announced. This moment was so newsworthy and resonant that some considered it an indication of the difficult path ahead for Farzaneh Sadegh. However, a look at her background shows that she is not unfamiliar with such opposition. Her insistence on prohibiting horizontal urban development did not sit well with a group that, based on the recommendations of Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, supported childbirth, mass housing construction, and urban expansion. Opponents argued that land allocation was necessary to advance the "National Housing Movement," and Farzaneh Sadegh had always been against such actions. The leakage of irregularities in Tehran's municipality under the management of Alireza Zakani also contributed to her unpopularity, and ultimately, she was dismissed from her position a year ago. An interview with the only proposed female minister by Masoud Pezeshkian with the Student News Agency also sparked reactions at that time, where Ms. Sadegh attempted to defend her stance against the horizontal growth of cities, including the expansion of the metropolis of Tehran from the south, stating: "Should we open the belt of Tehran from the south to go onto land subsidence? Go onto agricultural land? Go onto fault lines? Go onto riverbeds?..." She emphasized that as Deputy for Urban Planning, detailed studies on these issues had been conducted and presented. However, it seems that Farzaneh Sadegh's statements did not satisfy the opposing side, and criticisms against her have continued to this day. Nevertheless, if she receives a vote of confidence, Farzaneh Sadegh will become the second female minister in the history of the Islamic Republic after Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the Minister of Health in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, and the fourth female minister in the history of Iran. This title was previously held by women such as Farrokhroo Parsai and Mahnaz Afkhami before the 1979 revolution. Farrokhroo Parsai was the Minister of Education in Amir Abbas Hoveyda's government, who was executed after the revolution on charges of "corruption on earth". It is said that before her execution, Ms. Parsai wrote in her short will: "I hope the future for women in Iran is better than this." A future that her colleague, Mahnaz Afkhami, who served as Minister of Women’s Affairs in the governments of Amir Abbas Hoveyda and Jamshid Amouzegar, said she worked for. Ms. Afkhami had a better fate compared to Farrokhroo Parsai; she left Iran and successfully continued her activities outside the country. Recently, Mahnaz Afkhami recounted a memory in an interview with Radio Farda that might reflect the previous Iranian regime's disappointment with women who had managed to rise to ministerial positions: "I remember there was a ceremony at the [royal] palace, and as [the Shah] passed by the ministers, he stopped and asked, 'Where are these women you praise so much for their courage and commitment, and you interview them, now that their freedom is in danger?' Before I had a chance to respond, he smiled and moved on." In those days when the former Shah of Iran lamented to the only female minister of his cabinet, Farzaneh Sadegh was two years old. A woman who, if she receives a vote to join the government, will historically and socially continue a path in contemporary Iran that, although quiet and tumultuous, has still persisted.