Iranian teenager Armita Geravand, 16-year-old, enters the metro in Tehran without wearing a hijab, a veil of mandatory use for Iranian women. Seconds later, she is pulled from the metro by her friends. Three days later, the scene is in the headlines of all the most important newspapers in the West with a hegemonic narrative: Armita was allegedly beaten by Iran’s so-called morality police.
The video, shared all around the world, does not show what happened inside the metro, but seems to be enough to make the beating accusation. Many sources in Iran categorically state that it is nothing more than a lie - another lie.
This debate is not new and presented new nuances in that same week, when Iranian journalist and activist Narges Mohammadi was awarded the Nobel Prize for fighting for women’s rights in Iran, a fact that also caused opposing reactions and raised deeper questions about the centrality of women’s role in Iranian society.
It is a tough task to find any balanced content about the Persian country, the East and even Palestine, which is also affected by the criminal approach of the Western media. The news on Armita, for instance, spread from a text published by Reuters and was repeated without any verification by the world’s main news agencies.
From the need to build other perspectives, including showing contradictions – and I must emphasize that journalism shouldn’t cover them –, the I International Khorsheed Festival took place in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city, between September 29 and October 1. I attended the event as Brasil de Fato’s representative with other 100 female communicators from 40 countries.
“Our voices are not being listened to. Journalists can contribute to spreading the truth,” summarized Iranian first-lady Jamileh Alamolhoda in her welcome speech at the event dedicated to the memory of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by Israeli forces in May 2022, in the city of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
Gathering women representing independent media outlets from all around the world is part of a strategy for combating the West’s hegemonic narrative about the country, which takes women’s lives as fundamental. Therefore, it is understandable the intention of the Iranian people and the event's organizers to show “the real Iran” to the participants.
The Western view
The effort to see a millenary culture without the prejudices common to the Western view is constant, particularly regarding women. It is even more difficult to break with this perspective when talking about a theocratic state like Iran, which has a governmental system subject to the norms of Islam.
Even though politics and religion quite often get together in Latin American countries, the theocratic states are officially far from the reality we have in our region.
Not just religious topics deal with a plethora of misconceptions about Iran, but also the lack of historical context. These two elements are not separated, since the media war against the country started through the anti-Islam narrative, which extended to other nations, especially from the 1979 Revolution on.
The revolutionary process that culminated in the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and brought Ayatollah Khomeini to power has been in the making since the post-war period.
Shah Pahlavi was known for his bloody monarchy and the many agreements he made with the West, particularly the one involving oil. He signed disadvantageous contracts to export oil to the United States and the United Kingdom. Even a coup was orchestrated by the secret services of these countries – CIA and M16, respectively – to put the Shah back in power.
The West remained silent about the barbarisms the Shah made and supported a society in which a small part would benefit from the wealth the country produced, while the other part – the largest one – lived under miserable conditions. Obviously, it was the force behind the process that later would cause the Shah to fall in 1979, but amid violent repression by the people.
The veil was prohibited for a while, and the secret police, called “Savak” and inspired by the Israeli Mossad, had orders to remove the clothing forcefully, imposing a sudden change in habits. The measure was met with resistance. Women gathered in mosques and protested for the right to use a hijab, an act joined by students. All protests were violently repressed, causing many deaths.
Hijab, the center of disputes
After the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian state declared Shia Islam as the official religion of the republic. Having the Quran as the religious source, the rule is that women must cover their hair with a hijab and use large clothing that covers their bodies. The use of a chador – a female piece of clothing that covers the whole body, except the face – is also mandatory even for visitors and must be used in places considered holy. The veil is mandatory. The Quran presents a moral justification, but the piece of clothing is common to the different traditions of the Persian people.
This tradition is ignored in countries such as France, which prohibited, in 2004, the use of the hijab and other visible religious symbols by students in public schools. A 2010 legislation ruled that “in public spaces, nobody can use any piece of clothing conceived to cover their faces.” The law affects those who use the niqab. Other European countries also have regional restrictions on the Islamic veil.
Women in Iran must use hijab / Nina Fideles/ Brasil de Fato
In the war of narratives, women's role became one of the weapons used by Western media. It is no surprise that the use of the hijab has become central to this dispute and has fueled countless discussions.
“They want to say to us what is wrong and right. Independent media's role is crucial. Those that understand what is happening in the world face a hard task: publish the true news and combat fake news,” said the president of Iran, Ebrahim Raeisi, at the reception for the participants in Tehran.
From a personal perspective of my visit to Iran – very restricted in time and space – I can say there are certainly contradictions and questions regarding the use of the hijab. On the streets of Tehran, many women gave up wearing the veil, but police repression was not something I witnessed (which does not mean it does not exist).
When talking to Iranian women, it is possible to see a strong religious conviction and identity in the use of traditional clothing, such as the chador and the hijab. When questioned, they firmly respond that the reasons for the habit are based on faith – which must be respected.
On the other side, it is legitimate that women can question and decide about the rules imposed on them. However, the violent idea is that Iranian women need the West’s help to be saved from this “oppressive world”. That – I can surely affirm – is a mistake.
By the way, it would be worth writing a text, especially about these women who insist that the chador will not define them.
Culture, technology and women in leading posts
Besides hijabs, Iran is the country of PhD women, polyglot women, women who are producers, journalists… They stand out in universities, and in scientific production and are in leading posts in the most different areas.
They are doctors and lead some sectors at Ravazi Hospital. The multispecialty institution has state-of-the-art equipment for oncology, cardiology, aesthetics and radiology, and is a benchmark in fertility treatment.
In the architecture faculty we visited, they were also leading things. They were nine among ten students in a room we visited. The only male students were an Afghan man. Our tour in the Middle Eastern country also included a planetarium developed by the students themselves and a park for women and children, where they could remove their veils and continue talking or praying.
From a population proud of its culture, the Persian tradition is valued and has a name known by all: Ferdowsi (940-1020). Parks, buildings and universities were named after him. His cultural achievements are quite important for Iranians.
The poet is considered the “recreator” of the Persian language. Thanks to his work, Iranians can say they managed to maintain part of the literature produced before the Arab invasion. Shahnameh, “Book of Kings”, is the longest epic story of all time, with 60,000 verses.
Knowing the daily life of the Iranian people helps to break with pre-established Western views. In traditional markets, which are more than 300 years old, in addition to veils, lace bras and panties are also sold.
The visit to the Imam Reza Shrine, in Mashhad, imposed on the eyes of the West the effort to break prejudices about Islam and understand its history. Built in 818, the vast compound has an area of almost 600 thousand square meters, making it the world's largest temple.
"Imam Reza Shrine, in Mashhad, imposed on the eyes of the West the effort to break prejudices about Islam and understand its history" / Nina Fideles/ Brasil de Fato
There are seven enormous courtyards, countless places of prayer and various facilities, such as the University of Islamic Sciences, seminaries, a cemetery, museums and several tea points, where the beverage is freely distributed 24 hours a day by a large group of volunteers. An indescribable beauty that no image can capture. It was in this place that we all sought to speak in the same language, without words. Neither English, nor Spanish, nor Farsi.
The trip ended with a lot of information to be processed and a more qualified look at Iranian culture. It seems even more urgent and necessary to question the way in which the Western media builds its narratives about the Middle East. It is necessary to break with biased coverage, which attacks values and takes cultural and religious elements to justify violent, racist and bloodthirsty actions – see the genocide practiced by Israel against the Palestinian people.
For those who work in journalism, it is necessary to have even more responsibility. I hope we do not fail to take a stand in the face of injustices and untruths. Obviously, it is not an easy task. The power of the Western media is strident, but we must not – and cannot – remain silent.
Edited by: Rodrigo Chagas e Geisa Marques
