The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran has released a statement condemning the awarding of the Women’s World Chess Championship to Iran. They urge FIDE, the world chess body, to cancel this decision.
They plead that the misogynist fundamentalists ruling Iran should never “enjoy any opportunity to legitimize themselves since they take advantage of gender apartheid to suppress the crisis-riddled society in Iran and have a shameful, bloody record in clamping down on women”. They explain that instead, the regime should be made to respect and allow the people of Iran to have the most basic human rights, in particular women. This should be a first step and should be the first condition when it comes to engagement with other countries. The Women’s Committee remind that the regime does not even allow females to enter a sports stadium.
The statement continues: “Suppression of women in Iran has taken on broader dimensions since the so-called “moderate” Rouhani has taken office. The number of women executed during Rouhani’s tenure, alone, amounts to 71. In its latest measure, the Rouhani government has instructed universities to set regulations for women’s size of hi-heels, nails, and the color and pattern of clothes, and girl students have to pledge to observe these rules before registration.”
They believe that awarding the Women’s World Chess Championship to the clerical regime of Iran is equivalent to approving of and accepting the suppression of Iranian women. It must also be noted that in addition to forcing the Iranian chess player to wear the hijab, they are also obliging women from other countries to wear it too.
“The Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran calls on all female chess players to protest the FIDE decision in step with other top champions who have boycotted the games and declared their refusal to take part in the event in Tehran in protest to the mandatory veil and suppression of women in Iran.”
The full statement can be read on the NCRI’s website.
