Roya Pour Bagher
The recent Israeli-imposed war on Iran shattered a long-sought U.S. propaganda narrative: the oppression of women in Iran.
The earliest scenes that emerged from the war involved civilian casualties from Israeli strikes. Amongst those scenes, one stood out: a firefighter comforting a woman who had lost her loved ones. At first, observers were confused about how a man could be so close to a Muslim woman like that—except it wasn’t a male; it was a brave female firefighter. That was just the beginning of the crumbling of American propaganda. Then came another scene that shook the world. An Iranian female anchor remained seated during a live coverage as the Zionist regime struck the national television headquarters. She did not flee from her battlefield. Sahar Emami, a mother of two, continued her duty of informing the truth and asserted in her fearless presence that the regime could not silence her. As dust filled the studio, she shouted:
“What you heard was the sound of aggression against our land; the sound of aggression against the voice of justice and truth.”
When the building was struck, Emami took cover, only to come back a few minutes later and continue her news anchoring role, showcasing to the world who Iranian women are and what they stand for. In the midst of it all, the cry, “Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest),” reached the ears of everyone watching, affirming the Iranian conviction that only God must be feared.
Sahar Emami proved to the world that, indeed, women in Iran are built differently. They do not speak of women’s rights—they embody them.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, despite mainstream media’s claims, champions women unparalleled. It pushes for female education as is proved by the fact that there are more female students in engineering and STEM fields in Iran than male. It encourages the presence of women in all fields, as is reflected by the females in parliament, aviation, medicine, and sports. It rejects the devaluation of motherhood; rather, it honors mothers, especially the ones who have offered their children as martyrs for the much-beloved land. Its women take as role models figures like Lady Zaynab (AS), the grand-daughter of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) who stood up with her voice to the tyrant of her time, Yazeed—a legacy of female bravery commemorated to this day. This is Iran.
These are Iranian women—not the American-Israeli agents who have been desperately shouting, “women, life, freedom” with crocodile tears while their accomplices bombed civilian infrastructure across Iran at the behest of the Zionist regime. One thing is for certain, as was exposed by the imposed war: Washington and Tel Aviv had infiltrated the Islamic Republic of Iran with the help of agents and some traitors who used to be Iranian but lost that privilege for Zionist silver.
The truth is, it is the women of the United States and Israeli regime that do not have rights and need to be liberated! While maternity leave is not federally mandated as paid leave in the U.S., it is in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It not only provides this right but exceeds global standards—offering 9 months of leave compared to the world average of approximately 5. The Zionist regime further degrades women’s dignity by exploiting female soldiers as propaganda tools. They are sexualized on social media to whitewash the crimes of occupation forces and used as interrogation props against Palestinian detainees. A female pilot was sent by the occupation to bomb civilian and non-civilian areas in Tehran—part of their systematic campaign of murdering Iranian women and children. While they take advantage of women to carry out their dirty work, Iran honors its women and encourages them to tread the path of righteousness and justice.
The ultimate blow to Western propaganda came from Iranian female voices shouting, “We stand behind the Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei)”—especially from those wearing incomplete hijab. Despite the U.S. and its Zionist proxy investing vast resources to demonize the leader of the Islamic revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, it failed miserably at preserving the lie. Washington falsely painted him as a woman-oppressing dictator. Yet, how could this be true when both Iranian men and women chant:
“We stand behind our leader,”
“Whenever (he) the Leader orders, we will crawl on our chests to Israel!”
“May I be sacrificed for the Leader!”
Could such fervent loyalty echo nationwide if there truly was a dictatorship and one under Ayatollah Khamenei? The truth is the complete opposite—the Iranian nation has many red lines and one of the boldest is the leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Iranian women pour into the streets, regardless of how they dress or appear, to voice their unwavering loyalty and love for him. They protested in Tehran, despite evacuation threats from the U.S. president, to show Trump and the world that anyone who wants to assassinate their leader must know that all loyal and brave Iranians are Khamenei.
Roya Pour Bagher is a news writer based in Tehran, Iran.
