Outspoken former reformist lawmaker and women’s rights advocate Faezeh Hashemi, who served time in prison, says she will register as a presidential candidate only as a symbolic gesture. The daughter of one of Iran's most powerful men, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during the first three decades of the Islamic Republic, appears to have lost hope in reforms in her recent interviews.

In an interview published by Mostaghel newspaper in Tehran on Wednesday [March 17] she said she intends to register her candidacy being aware that "Iranian conservatives and part of the government do not have a favorable view about women's political activity." She added that the Guardian Council would certainly disqualify her as a former prisoner and a woman who has faced courts and trials. "They even did not endorse my qualification for teaching at the university where I might come into contact with a maximum of 100 students. So, it is pretty obvious how they will treat me as a presidential hopeful."

Nonetheless, she insisted, "if necessary, I would register as a symbolic act, but will not follow the matter, because in the current circumstances I am not planning to take part in the election even as a voter."

Although most Iranian male politicians have said during the past 42 years that women cannot run for president in Iran, Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, the spokesman for Guardian Council, a hardliner dominated institution that has the final say in vetting candidates, announced on Wednesday that "There is nothing in the law that would prevent women from running for president." Nonetheless, all the woman who have ever nominated themselves have been disqualified by the Council.

Faezeh Hashemi insisted that the Iranian government has turned the issue of women into a security issue so that no one would dare voice women's concerns and demands. The area of working for women's right is a minefield. If you prove to be influential in this area they will come after you sooner or later and you will land in trouble, she said.

She added that her ideas about women's liberty angers Iran's conservatives whether it is about women's right to ride a bicycle or equal rights in marriage, or political activity. She said that she has been most recently summoned to court on charges of advocating women's right to determine conditions before entering a marriage as a form of social contract.

Faezeh Hashemi further said in the interview that her ideas about women's role, non-governmental organizations, feminism and other matters not only angers hardliners, but are also frowned at by reformists politicians.

Disillusionment with reformists

Both in this interview and in another interview with the reformist Sharq newspaper on Tuesday, Hashemi expressed her disillusionment about the performance of Iranian reformists and the reform camp altogether.

She even harshly criticized her own party, the Executives of Construction, for its sexist views. "Even in my own party, if I or other women do not follow matters that are of interest to women, male party members would never address these."

"None of them remembers or believes that women have also rights as women. They probably do not know that supporting women's rights is an essential characteristic of being a reformist," Faezeh Hashemi said.

Meanwhile, Ms. Hashemi told Shargh newspaper on Tuesday that "most Iranian reformists are alien to the idea of reforms." She also criticized Iran's reformists for not having a plan even for the upcoming presidential election. "Survival is their only objective. They simply want to exist next to the circle of power in Iran, otherwise, they really do not intend to win the election."

She also criticized the reformists’ performance in the past decade. She said reformists claim that they were forced to choose between bad and worse in 2013 and that was why they voted for Hassan Rouhani. But why did they support Rouhani in 2017 although they were critical of his performance? They never explained why they did not choose another candidate and they did not perform well in parliament and city councils where they has a significant presence.

She further criticized reformists for "calling the protesters in 2018 "thugs and rioters," and misleading the people about the cause of the protests," providing further reasons for voters for shunning reformists in the 2020 elections.

Faezeh Hashemi argued that reformist parties have lost their identity. At the same time participation in political activity has become increasingly dangerous in Iran. Also, reformist parties are not governed in a democratic manner and this has led to disillusionment within the reform camp. "When the way things are done is not correct, it makes no difference whether you are a principlist or a reformist."