Iran is a country characterized by a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, and culturally diverse social structure.
Status of women and gender-based politics in Iran
It is not possible to speak of women’s freedom or equality in Iran. All institutions that hold authority over the regime’s legal system and laws are composed entirely of male members, who make decisions through ad hoc religious rulings in line with the interests of the system. The highest decision-making and executive bodies of the regime, the Velayat-e Faqih and the Assembly of Experts, consist exclusively of members of the clergy, and women are excluded from these structures. Within the regime’s ideology, women are portrayed as “shameful, seductive, provocative, unreliable, intellectually inferior, lacking willpower, and incapable of self-control, incomplete, perhaps even only a fraction of a human being.” This mindset reduces women to instruments of pleasure and reproduction created for men. “She is the man’s field, his private property; no one else may touch her. A man may beat her, divorce her, or take multiple wives if he wishes.” Because male authority is central to this ideology, women are treated solely as objects. The administrative, legal, and constitutional implications of this perspective were rapidly implemented after the regime came to power.
After consolidating power, the clerical authorities quickly removed women from public positions, dismissing five female mayors, 22 members of parliament, 330 members of local councils, and thousands of academics, artists, diplomats, civil servants, and educators.
The regime, which did not limit itself to imposing the black chador on women, also sought to push them entirely out of public life. However, the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War partially altered this trajectory. As millions of men were sent to the front over the course of the prolonged war, the need for women’s labor became unavoidable. Recognizing that the system would not be able to function without women’s participation, the clerical authorities were compelled to reintegrate women into sectors such as production, education, and healthcare.
At the outset of clerical rule, legal changes reduced the minimum marriage age for girls to nine, while it was set at fifteen for boys. This reflects a deeply gendered mindset that evaluates women primarily through their reproductive capacity and reduces them to instruments for the continuation of lineage.
In addition, several provisions in Iran’s Penal Code illustrate the systemic discrimination against women. Under Article 203, if a woman kills a man, she is sentenced to death and is also required to pay compensation to the man’s family on the grounds that she has “eliminated a producer.”
Similarly, Article 205 states that if a man kills a Muslim woman, the punishment is death. However, Article 225 stipulates that although intentional killing is punishable by death, the execution of a male perpetrator depends on the victim’s family paying a sum of money to the perpetrator’s family.
These laws reflect a system that, much like a law of the jungle, protects the powerful and embodies the ideological foundations of the regime. Concepts such as justice, fairness, and equality before the law are effectively absent. A family whose daughter has been killed not only suffers the loss of their child but may also be required to pay financial compensation. Likewise, families whose daughters kill a man face both financial penalties and the execution of their daughters. It is difficult to find another context in the contemporary world where injustice and inequality are so explicitly codified and enforced.
Article 70 of the law stipulates that the testimony of a single woman is not accepted in court. In cases of divorce, children are generally placed under the father’s custody. Only boys up to the age of two and girls up to the age of seven may remain under the mother’s care. Since both legal frameworks and social norms grant nearly all rights and authority in divorce to men, husbands frequently use the threat of divorce as a form of pressure. A divorced woman, cut off from production and employment, is often left without resources and subjected to social stigma and exclusion. Within this state and societal mindset, a woman who is divorced and no longer under male protection is labeled as immoral.
Article 86 allows men whose spouses are away for extended periods to engage in extramarital relations on the grounds of sexual necessity. Article 74 states that a married woman who commits adultery is to be executed by stoning. Article 630, introduced in 1996, grants a husband the right to immediately kill his wife if he catches her committing adultery. No comparable provision applies if a woman catches her husband in the same act.
The practice of stoning within the system is significant in that it reveals how far those who participate in it have been detached from contemporary human values. In some cases, mob violence may be explained by the provocation and manipulation of crowds, where people are incited and driven toward aggression. However, stoning represents something far more severe, reflecting a deeply pathological social condition. In such cases, individuals deliberately and, at times, with a sense of gratification, throw stones at a person whose hands and feet are bound and whose body is buried up to the waist. A human being is killed in this manner, left half buried in the ground and half under a pile of stones.
The man who throws stones may believe that he is earning religious merit through this act, while also demonstrating his power over a woman who does not submit, thereby attempting to enforce obedience among those who remain. In essence, what he buries with each stone is his own conscience and his own sins.
The words attributed to Jesus on this matter are often cited. When he encountered a woman about to be stoned by a large crowd, he stopped those holding stones and addressed them: “If this woman has committed adultery and must be stoned, then let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone.” Following this, no one in the crowd threw a stone, and the gathering dispersed without carrying out the execution. From this perspective, it can be said that those who participate in stoning are often those most intent on concealing their own wrongdoing while presenting themselves as morally pure.
The regime’s legal framework also includes provisions that legitimize prostitution through temporary marriage, known as Sigheh, which further reinforces the subordination of women. Under this system, a woman’s body is effectively leased to a man for a fixed period in exchange for payment. In this arrangement, described as a temporary marriage, all authority and rights are granted to the man. The woman must not be married, and if she is a virgin, she must obtain her father’s consent. She does not have the authority to terminate the arrangement, while the man may end it at any time. In addition, if the man dies during the union, the woman is not entitled to any inheritance. Within these practices, which institutionalize prostitution under the clerical regime, women are reduced to objects of use.
In conclusion, within Iran’s complex political structure, the theocratic system in which all authority ultimately rests with the religious leadership is facing increasing strain. Given Iran’s multi-ethnic and culturally diverse composition, the likelihood of the current status quo continuing in its present form appears increasingly uncertain.
In the ongoing confrontation between Iran and the United States and Israel, the state and the regime face a serious threat to their very existence. To avert the risk of collapse, the regime must pursue democratic change and transformation in domestic politics and implement structural reforms that guarantee the democratic rights of all ethnic and cultural groups, particularly women.
Abdullah Öcalan states: “The culture and people of Iran, who have shown strong resistance to capitalist modernity, can only be led toward the equal, free, and democratic world they have long pursued through a democratic nation perspective. Only by overcoming divisive, conflict-driven nation-state conspiracies and interventions can an honorable peace be achieved.”
This reality represents the only viable path for Iran to preserve its existence.
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