On October 8, Iranian state media published a speech by regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to a group of regime officials in which Khamenei expressed his frustration with what he called “misogyny accusations” against the regime.
Khamenei said, “The accusation of misogyny by the enemy to the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Republic is the slander that these people have been accusing since the beginning of the revolution…. This accusation has always existed.”
This expression of discomfort is a confession to the fact that, thanks to the struggles of Iranian women during all the years of the regime’s rule, and the stigma of “misogyny” “since the beginning of the revolution” has been so emblazoned on the regime that the regime is unable to conceal it and is forced to speak it and seek to deny it.
In another part of the speech, Khamenei said, “The question of women is one of the most important issues in the world. In the case of women, we are not on the defensive… We have no problem in this regard, but we have to make a statement against the enemy’s formation, we have to show the truth.”
The phrases “in the case of women, we are not on the defensive” and “we have no problem in this regard” does not even convince Khamenei’s followers. Ironically, Khamenei has been forced to make such a defense precisely because his forces, are facing waves of public outrage and hatred inside the country, and his appointees on the international are fearful wherever the issue of women and the oppression of women in Iran is raised. Therefore, Khamenei’s rhetorical advice to his demoralized forces that “we should make a statement against the enemy’s formation” does not solve any problem.
The truth is that “misogyny” goes beyond describing Khomeini’s thought and practice, a prominent feature of the mullahs’ regime, and one of the foundations of the mullahs’ rule and the dynamics of the regime’s security forces. Without it, the mullahs’ backward regime loses one of the major elements in its ideological cohesion and falls apart.
Since misogyny is one of the main pillars of the mullahs’ dictatorship, every Iranian woman and man who seeks freedom is equally in favor of the ideal of equality between men and women. In particular, the women and girls of Iran have proved their competence in the ranks of the Resistance and in leading the uprisings. A phenomenon that has drawn respect and admiration from all those who believe in the ideal of equality around the world.
On the other hand, if “misogyny” is the existential factor and maintainer of religious fascism, the force and resistance which stands against it must deeply believe in the ideal of women’s emancipation and equality. This is what has led the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) to stand against the mullahs’ misogyny since the revolution. For more than 34 years, women have led the PMOI and the entire Iranian Resistance movement in all fields.
As Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said during a speech on June 21, 1996, “The misogynous mullahs are determined to destroy Iranian women’s rights and freedoms and trample their dignity. In this way, they want to solidify the pillars of their authoritarian rule. To the misogynistic mullahs, I must say that you are utterly wrong; you will never attain your wishes.
“You have used all possible forms of humiliation, oppression, repression, torture, and murder against Iranian women. But be sure you will receive the fatal blow from those you never count. Of course, your reactionary nature does not allow you to consider them. But be sure that your oppressive rule will be swept away by Iran’s conscious and free women.”