The former Shah's wife sends a message of solidarity

Reza Bayegan, Ekbatan Observer:

The Special Bureau of Shahbanou released a message in Persian on June 12, 2005. The following is my translation into English:

Message of Her Imperial Majesty Farah Pahlavi in Support of the Iranian Women’s Struggle, Their Hunger Strike and the Hunger Strike of Political Prisoners and Students. READ MORE

From the very outset of Iran’s early twentieth-century Constitutional Revolution, women have been the pioneers of liberty, progress and development in our country.

The establishment of the Islamic Republic and imposition of its retrograde constitution however deprived women of their hard earned civil and legal rights, relegating them to the rank of second class citizens. During the past twenty-six years Iranian women have embarked upon a new, courageous civil struggle opposing the mediaeval laws contained in the constitution of the Islamic Republic. This peaceful struggle of women marks a brilliant chapter in the history of the Iranian national movement for liberty and political emancipation.

The current protest waged by the vibrant and enlightened women of our country is intensifying at a time when university students, intellectuals and human rights activists have transformed Iranian political prisons into bastions for defending freedom and justice. In the days leading to the spurious presidential election, these protests have greatly contributed to discrediting the clerical dictatorship.

Commending the valiant heroes and heroines of our country who are calling for the emancipation and liberty of our homeland, I also would like to express my solidarity with the freedom movement of the Iranian women, students, and intellectuals.

With the hope that the dark night of our homeland will soon turn into day, and the light of liberty, prosperity and development will once again shine on the horizon of our beloved Iran.

Farah Pahlavi

Today at this very sensitive and crucial period in the history of their struggle, Iranian women need all the support and solidarity they can muster. Shahbanou’s message not only is very timely, but also has the extra advantage of coming from a person who herself has played an historic role in modernizing and improving the status of women in Iran. As Iran’s 1963 White Revolution brought about gender equality and voting rights for the first time in the history of the nation, Shahbanou’s active cultural, political and humanitarian role was seen as a brilliant example of women’s full and meaningful participation.

As Shahbanou points out in her message of solidarity, since those dark days of 1979, Iranian women have been robbed of their hard won rights and liberties. They deserve the whole hearted support of all freedom lovers world over in their vital journey through time, and their relentless struggle to reach the gates of the twenty-first century.