Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Iran Supreme Leader Blames ‘Zionists’ For Western View Of Women

(JTA) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the Western view of women a “Zionists’ plot” in a tweet on the country’s version of mother’s day.

“Designating women as goods & means of pleasure in western world, most probably, is among Zionists’ plots to destroy human community,” Khamenei tweeted on Sunday.

 

Designating women as goods & means of pleasure in western world, most probably, is among Zionists’ plots to destroy human community.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 19, 2017

Iranian mother’s day falls on the anniversary of the birth of Fatimah, the youngest daughter of the prophet Muhammad and Khadija, the first of Muhammad’s wives.

The tweet was one of seven by Khameinei related to the Iranian mother’s day.

Khamenei praised Fatimah, also known as Hazrat Zahra, calling her “perfect role model for Muslim women.”

“With a grandeur & stature beyond human’s understanding & imagination, yet one of Hazrat Zahra’s roles was being a “mother, wife & housewife,” he also tweeted.

With a grandeur & stature beyond human’s understanding & imagination,yet one of Hazrat Zahra’s roles was being a “mother, wife & housewife.”

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 19, 2017

With a grandeur & stature beyond human’s understanding & imagination,yet one of Hazrat Zahra’s roles was being a “mother, wife & housewife.”

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 19, 2017

Khamenei seemed to criticize those he said “humiliate housewives,” who he said produce the “highest product in (the) universe,” human beings.

Some unaware deceived people humiliate housewives, while it means raising humans & producing highest product in universe i.e. human being.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 19, 2017

He also tweeted that that “men and women are no different in some aspects like ‘spiritual ascension,’ ‘leadership power’ or ‘ability to guide humanity.’”

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.