Don't "play" with Islamic law, Iranian women told
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Activists should not try to change Islamic laws relating to women's rights, Iran's supreme leader said on Wednesday, two days after one campaigner was reportedly sentenced to 34 months in jail and ten lashes.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also lambasted the West for using women as a tool to advertise products, make money and to satisfy "disorderly and unlawful sexual needs," state television said.
He was addressing a group of women, most dressed conservatively in head-to-toe black chadors, in Tehran ahead of Thursday's anniversary of the birth of Prophet Mohammad's daughter, Fatima, when Iran honors mothers and women.
Campaigners say Iranian women face difficulties in getting a divorce and criticize inheritance laws they say are unjust and the fact their court testimony is worth half that of a man's.
The Islamic Republic rejects allegations it is discriminating against women, saying it follows sharia law.
"We are witnessing in our country that some women activists and some men are trying to play with Islamic laws ... in order to harmonize them with international conventions related to women," Khamenei said. "This is wrong."
"They shouldn't see the solution in changing Islamic jurisprudence laws," Khamenei, Iran's highest authority, was quoted as saying.
But he indicated some Islamic rules regarding women could change if jurisprudence research led to a new understanding, state television said.
Although women are legally entitled to hold most jobs in Iran, it remains a male-dominated society. They cannot run for president or become judges but in recent years they have started to work in police and fire departments.
On Monday, an Iranian court sentenced a women's rights activist to almost three years in jail and 10 lashes for attending a banned rally, her lawyer said on Tuesday.
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1) Don't "play" with Islamic law, Iranian women told
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
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