Iranian president denounces West’s “double standards” on women’s rights

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has accused Western governments of having “double standards” when it comes to assessing women’s rights in their respective countries and in the Islamic Republic, in the midst of a wave of protests in different Iranian cities.

Several localities, especially in the Kurdish-majority areas of northwestern Iran but also the capital Tehran, have registered demonstrations in recent days to protest the situation of women in the wake of the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested for improperly wearing the veil.

Raisi has used his turn to speak before the UN General Assembly to defend that in Iran Human Rights are respected and to warn that in other countries “dozens” of women die and “trample” Human Rights, without expressly alluding to the current controversy.

Amini, 22, a member of the Iranian Kurdish minority, was arrested on September 13 in Tehran for improper dress and died three days later after falling into a coma after fainting in a detention center, amid allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

Her case has become a symbol both inside and outside Iran and has led to pronouncements from several governments and the United Nations. The Iranian authorities, meanwhile, have pledged to investigate the facts.

Raisi has also used his speech to defend that Iran is not seeking to manufacture nuclear weaponry and is instead working to recover the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 with international powers, including the United States.

Tehran considers that it is Washington that does not hinder progress to return to the 2015 scenario and, through Raisi’s mouth, continues to demand “justice” for the death of General Qassem Soleimani, shot down in 2020 by a US drone in Iraq.

The Iranian president has said, holding a photo of Soleimani, that the United States acts with “hypocrisy” and that the world “needs a strong Iran.”