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http://en.iranwire.com/features/6441/
Iran – Women Still Banned from Sports Stadiums
Hassan Mosleh, Borazjan’s Friday Imam
Following
the announcement that the ban against women in stadiums would stay intact, two
Friday imams have called for Iranians to pursue “religious and
revolutionary values” in their daily lives.
“The idea of
letting women to go to sport stadiums to watch matches has many immoral and
negative social consequences,” said Hassan Mosleh during his sermon in
Borazjan, Bushehr province, on Friday, 17 April.
Another
Friday Imam echoed Mosleh’s comments, saying most Iranian women were not
interested in such immoral behavior. “Those who support this idea have
unfortunately lost the right and straight path,” said Ali Rahdoust, Friday imam
in Delvar, in the southern part of the province. “They imagine that the dignity
and virtuosity of our girls and women is about going to sport stadiums, while
the majority of our women are chaste and noble and are repulsed by such
conduct.”
“Men and
women sitting next to each other to watch matches will destroy religious and
revolutionary values,” Mosleh said, as reported by Persian Gulf Website.
At the
beginning of April, the Director of Information and International Affairs at
the Ministry of Interior contradicted earlier statements by the Minister of Sport,
who had said the government was reviewing the law prohibiting women from
watching sports in stadiums. Abdolhamid Ahmadi had said that changes were
likely to be implemented.
The issue
has been widely covered in the Iranian and international media, with particular
attention being paid to the case of Ghoncheh Ghavami,
who was jailed for five months for trying to attend a volleyball match in
Tehran.
Rahdoust
said those calling for women to be allowed to watch sport in stadiums should
shift their focus. “It is better for those who support such ideas to defend the
less problematic idea of women getting into universities and prepare the
grounds for them to achieve higher scientific qualifications,” he said.
“It’s better
to be worried and concerned about women’s unemployment or the increasing rate
of divorce in society.”
Read the
original article in Persian