BRIEF ON IRAN
No. 245
Tuesday, September 5, 1995

Representative Office of
The National Council of Resistance of Iran
3421 M Street NW #1032
Washington, DC 20007



Mrs. Rajavi Calls on Fourth World Conference on Women, From Statement by
the National Council of Resistance of Iran, September 4

In tomorrow's Iran, women will enjoy the  right to elect and be elected in
all elections...; the right to employment and free selection of
profession... including the presidency or judgeship...; the right to free
political and
social activity...;  the right to choose clothing...
        In a message, simultaneous with the Fourth World Conference on
Women in China, to Mrs. Gertrude Mongella, Secretary General of the Beijing
Conference, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian Resistance President-elect,
expressed the hope that the Conference would take effective steps to
eradicate gender-based discrimination and oppression, and to improve the
situation of women in countries the world over.
        Mrs. Rajavi said: Since coming to power in 1979, the clerics have
set about eliminating women from social and political activity, and have
endeavored to humiliate them as second-class citizens... Men's right to
polygamy was recognized, while women were denied the right to divorce and
the guardianship of their children. Last year, the mullahs issued circulars
warning women against smiling...
        The Iranian Resistance's President-elect added: During these years,
tens of thousands of women have been executed for political reasons, and
many more have been subjected to the most vicious forms of torture, from
pulling out their nails, burning and mutilating them, to torturing children
in front of their mothers, to raping women before their children, parents
and husbands. Iran has the highest number of political executions,
particularly of women, of any country in the world. These inhuman pressures
and the clampdown led in one year alone in but one province of Iran to
3,600 suicides, 2,500 of whom were women... Destitute women, forced into
prostitution to support their families, are ruthlessly stoned to death
before the eyes of their young children. Girl children and adolescents are
sold by their families to make ends meet in the extreme living conditions
of Iran...
        The Resistance's President-elect added: As a Muslim Iranian woman,
I declare that the view and conduct toward women of the religious despots
ruling Iran are fundamentally contrary to the liberating teachings of Islam
and the Quran. The mullahs ruling Iran are the worst enemies of Islam, the
Quran, and the Prophet Muhammed. Islam, according to its great Prophet, is
a religion of mercy, peace and equality...
        Mrs. Rajavi recalled: By virtue of these very teachings, in our
Resistance movement, women in the Mojahedin Organization have taken the
lead in the struggle for liberty, and have become the principal advocates
of women's rights vis-à-vis the Khomeini regime's unbridled, savage
retrogression... Half the members of the National Council of Resistance of
Iran, (NCR), the democratic opposition coalition, are women who hold top
positions of responsibility in the just, nationwide Resistance of the
Iranian people.
        Referring to the NCR's Declaration on the Freedoms and Rights of
Women, the Resistance's President-elect said: In tomorrow's Iran, women
will enjoy the  right to elect and be elected in all elections, and the
right to suffrage in all referendums; the right to employment and free
selection of profession; the right to hold any public or government
position, office, or profession, including the presidency or judgeship in
all judicial institutions; the right to free political and social activity,
and travel without the permission of another person.; absolute freedom of
choice of spouse and marriage, and equal rights to divorce; the right to
choose clothing and covering; and the right to participate in all athletic
competitions and artistic activities. Polygamy is banned.
        Noting that the mullahs' anti-human regime has been has been
condemned in 35 resolutions adopted by the various United Nations organs,
Mrs. Rajavi called upon the Conference to obviate any attempt by the
religious, terrorist dictatorship ruling Iran to influence the conventions
and conclusions ratified by the Fourth World Conference on Women and to
prevent the criminals from exploiting Islam and Iranian culture.