The second lady is seeking the lead role
According to Iran Gate’s report on the holding of the Influential Women Congress with Jamileh Alamolhoda, the wife of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the host, we intend to delve into its dimensions. None of the foreign guests of this congress were important individuals, and all the winners of its award are also anonymous. Additionally, seven of the congress guests, according to Fatemeh Haqiralsadat, the scientific secretary of this congress, have become winners of the 20,000 euro prize, equivalent to one billion rials. Mrs. Haqiralsadat, in response to reporters’ questions on Monday, the second of Bahman, considered the announcement of the identities of the judges of this competition as confidential for at least two years.
Based on the observations of the reporters present at the conference, the cost of the prizes, including the cost of holding such a large-scale session, is considerable. If the claim made by the organizers of the congress regarding the presence of 300 foreign guests in this session is true, the cost of their airfare, a 5-day stay at the Parsian Evin Hotel, and their travels in Iran will be staggering.
Following the suppression of popular protests after the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Basij forces, which faced widespread international criticism, the Islamic Republic organized the Influential Women’s Congress on January 20th.
The initial guest list of this congress included titles such as the First Ladies of countries, ministers, parliament representatives, scientists, and entrepreneurs from 58 countries. However, in the end, only Anna Hakobyan, the wife of Nikol Pashinyan, the Prime Minister of Armenia, along with the wives of the Prime Ministers of Burkina Faso, Kyrgyzstan, and Serbia, as well as several African ministers, were present.
In this mentioned congress, not only were there no recognized influential women from friendly countries to Iran, such as Russia, China, and Syria, as well as neighboring or Muslim countries, but all seven winners of the congress awards were also anonymous individuals.
It is noteworthy that the wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia participated in this congress while Iran is engaged in a cold war with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Therefore, the visit of the First Lady of Armenia to Iran is more of a message to Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, than it is for the Islamic Republic itself.
Reactions to this event
In this regard, Hossein Entezami, former deputy minister of culture and Islamic guidance, also criticized the lack of transparency in disclosing the names of the guests, calling for their names to be published separately by country and their respective positions. According to him, this would allow us to understand their importance by Googling them. He also demanded clarification of the expenses of this event, separated by each guest.
Hossein Dehbashi, a critical media activist, also tweeted about how hosting the Shah’s wife was considered good, but when it came to the current president’s wife, it was seen as bad. He mentioned that at the dinner banquet, there were 20 kings, 5 queens, 21 princes, 16 presidents, 3 prime ministers, 4 vice presidents, and 69 foreign ministers, who were invited by the host. However, only the wives of the presidents of Serbia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Burkina Faso were invited by the host.
In the meantime, the Mardomsalari newspaper also pointed out the absence of well-known foreign women in this congress and stated that among the individuals who were honored, there were no prominent figures.
This report also mentioned the posting of a picture without a hijab on social media by Maya Sebahi, a Lebanese media activist and one of the guests of this congress at the Parsian Avin Hotel. She claimed that we have no restrictions in Iran.
This Lebanese woman had previously traveled to Qatar along with other activists affiliated with the Islamic Republic’s media outlets to watch the World Cup games.
Unknown winners who had an impact
Iran Gait, by carefully examining this congress, has reached the names of the winners of the Women’s Congress Award, one of whom is Vanajan Sangiran Lee, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Malaya, who was mistakenly introduced by the state news agency IRNA as a Thai university professor.
The second prize went to Sudeh Ghafoorifard, the daughter of Hassan Ghafoorifard, a former representative of the parliament and former member of the central council of the Islamic Coalition Party and the head of the inspection and supervision board of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
Kazan Suwa Alna from Russia received the third prize, and Ms. Haqiralsadat claims to be an active social musician, sculptor, and holder of a PhD in biology. However, this Russian lady has introduced herself as a journalist on her social networks and has also had collaborations with Mashhad University. In this way, apparently an anonymous and non-Russian journalist has been invited to Tehran by Ibrahim Raisi’s government and received the Influential Woman Award, while many influential Iranian women journalists are in prison.
Maria Beatriz Junis from Argentina also received an award, but this report says that there are no references to how she has been influential in her speech to the congress or any information about her can be found on the internet.
Fatima Haqir al-Sadat has said about this lady that she is from the graduates of the Society of the Mustafa, a religious promotional institution of the Islamic Republic that tries to expand Shiite Islam in foreign countries.
Pan Abhe Xiami was also one of the individuals who received the congress award as an influential woman from China. No explanation has been given about her influence, but from her speech after receiving the award, it could be understood that she is a Chinese merchant who, according to herself, was very surprised by receiving the award.
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