Exclusive: Iranian President's Wife Says West's Feminist 'Violence' Won't Work in Iran

In her first-ever interview with a U.S. media outlet, Jamileh Alamolhoda, the wife of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, sat down with Newsweek Senior Foreign Policy Writer and Deputy Editor of National Security and Foreign Policy Tom O'Connor to discuss issues of importance to her and to her country.

Prior to her husband taking office in August 2021, Alamolhoda obtained her doctorate in the philosophy of education from Tarbiat Modares University. She went on to serve in a number of academic positions before founding the Institute of Fundamental Studies of Science and Technology at Shahid Beheshti University in 2013. In 2020, she was appointed secretary of the Council for the Transformation and Renovation of the Educational System by the powerful Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

As the wife of the Iranian president, which was described to Newsweek as her preferred title, Alamolhoda has adopted a more visible presence than her predecessors, even accompanying her husband on a trip to Latin America in June.

The following interview, conducted via an interpreter, has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Newsweek: In addition to being the wife of the Iranian president, you are also an accomplished scholar and an active figure in various fields within the Islamic Republic of Iran. For some of my readers who are perhaps not quite as familiar with some of those initiatives, could you explain some of the things you've been most active on back home?

Alamolhoda: In the name of God, the most compassionate and merciful...I'm actually not a political person. I have not had that much political activity prior to the election of President Raisi. Due to new circumstances, I am undertaking new activities in the political spheres.

Prior to the president's election, I was engaged in academic activities, specifically in the science of upbringing for children. After the election, I took on the responsibility of more political activities. After what happened subsequent to the presidential election, and lots of meetings being held with the president, I gathered that there are lots of misunderstandings and room for clarification, so I engaged with the endeavor of undertaking responsibilities and to clarify and enlighten on things that pertain to women, their activities and the role they play in society.

Prior to that, I managed to compose two articles on women, but after that, we started engaging with the introduction of Iranian women and the role they play. So, we held the Conference of Women of Influence, during which at least 400 women of influence participated, and we also held an exhibition to elaborate on the abilities of women and what they have for society.

Because of your recent marriage [Alamolhoda is referring here to the Newsweek reporter's wedding on September 16, 2023], I have to tell you that women in Iran are supported by the family, by the father, by all the members of the family, and they play a crucial role in the society owing to the support they received from the family. And that is absolutely due to the fact that the core of the family plays a significant role. Women in Iran, or anywhere in the world, play a crucial role in maintaining the very core of the family, so they play a very crucial role in society.

Men in Iran prefer not to ask their spouses to work or bring money home. Women are regarded as persons sharing love with men in the position of mother, spouse or daughter.

You might find it very exciting and interesting that women in Iran have not fought for their rights because they already enjoy their rights. And that is due to the preservation of their dignity in society by men. The values to which women are entitled in the country, concerning the moral aspects, they have indeed morphed into rules and regulations. We can share with you these rules and regulations, the supported ones, which are dedicated to supporting women in society, so that you can share it with other parts of the world to see how we deal with it.

The feminist movement from other parts of the world has also not found its way in Iran, and that is primarily due to the fact that it is inclined toward violence. As opposed to that, women in Iran prefer tranquility rather than being exposed to violence through the feminist approach. That is the striking difference between the two elements.

With the decree preferred by the Holy Quran regarding the relationship of women and men, I have to emphasize that, as per the Quran, it is interconnected. Men have to support women and, in return, women offer calm and tranquility for men. That is also applicable to the relationship between the father and the daughter and the son and the mother, because the two groups support each other and, in turn, they guarantee calm and tranquility.

You mentioned misunderstandings about the women's rights situation in Iran. Can you speak to the criticisms that have been voiced by Western countries and the United States, especially, regarding the situation in Iran and accusations that women in Iran are not free and are in need of greater rights?

Well, I have to admit that they do not know much about Iran. That is the cause of the misunderstanding. They've not dove into the vast depth of the relation between women and the populace. That is why they regard women with a Western lens. I have to admit that not all of the people live up to the standards of the society, but what the West is trying to say about women in Iran is very much a politicized matter.

So, what then would your assessment be of the women's rights situation in many Western countries, even specifically here in New York right now, where critics say women enjoy more freedoms than in Iran?

Women in the West, indeed most of them, they feel lonely. That is due to the fact that they are less supported by their family and their marriage as well.

Due to their very strong feelings, women have to be very much respected. But in the West, they have quite a lot of things to do, to do as much work as a man does, so that they can have the minimum standards of life. That is the striking difference between women in the West and women in Iran.

In Iran, women have very close family relations. Cousins, all members of the family, they are very much interconnected. The relationships between the family members are not so fragile, as opposed to here in the West, where it is very much fragile and people are very busy with what they have to do to live their life, to survive.

In Iran, there are democratic institutions and there is a long, lively history of debate in the country on various matters, and these debates are playing out today both in parliament and in the streets as well. Do you think that Iran and its government has work to do in accommodating the full range of these voices, some of whom are looking for more reforms and come out to the streets to say so?

We are an evolving society for the time being. We have different people from unions with different cultures. But we have recently been attacked by a virus of assaulting cultures and we've been assaulted by culture coming from the West, westernized cultures.

But if you look at the culture in Iran, the depth of the civilization, it is quite different than what is in the West. And what we hope is that we could digest all the cultures so that we can have a common understanding and we can unite in the face of all the assaults and the attacks coming from the West. If you let me compare something, look at the level of civilization in Iran as opposed to the West, there is a very striking difference, because it dates back to thousands of years. With all the differences and different cultures, what we hope is to digest all of the differences owing to the purity of the culture.

We've been under attack by different cultures over the years, going back to the barbarians and these areas, but hopefully there's a common thing between the populace and the leadership, that is a very strong bond. The president and the other members of the administration also share that bond. What the Raisi administration has managed to do is strengthen that bond and then follow up on the orders and decrees issued by the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei].

There was a big difference between other administrations implementing the decrees and orders issued by the supreme leader. And also, the Iranian populace has indeed managed to foster a very strong bond, a cultural bond, with each other. And that is owing to the guidance proposed by the supreme leader.

So, the administration and the Islamic Consultative Assembly have actually been busy discharging their duties and responsibilities. But what we have to pay attention to is the role played by the society and the general populace, because they have to be united with each other and, with the help of each other, be able to digest all the differences, the non-similarities.

But we should not forget the fact that Iran has been targeted by the unilateral coercive measures, so to say 'sanctions,' which have made life very difficult for the general populace. But, leaning on the guidance offered by the supreme leader, I think we are going to be able to break through the ranks.

U.S. officials often say that they are acting in the best interests of the Iranian people. Can you speak a little bit more as to the impact of the U.S. policy on Iran, be it human rights, women's rights or other aspects, and then if you had a message for women in leadership positions here in the U.S., what would that be?

Stressing that indeed all the sanctions are very challenging for the society, the Iranian people and generally the Islamic Republic of Iran has managed to stand on its feet in the midst of the sanctions. We've had difficult times with the sanctions, but we have really managed to excel and make considerable achievements and progress owing to the existence of the sanctions. Because when sanctions are placed on a country, it has to find a way itself to get through and find a way to do better. So that is what the Islamic Republic of Iran aspires to do.

So that is the, let's say, positive side of sanctions. The negative side of sanctions has indeed made life miserable for patients, especially children. I mean, a case in point would be butterfly children, if you've ever heard of it. Their skin comes off and they find it very difficult and very painful. The agony is unthinkable, there is no way to describe the pain they go through. That is due to sanctions being placed on these two categories, food and medicine. That is actually the fact that the U.S. is taking pride in preserving the interest of the Iranian people. I mean, no one can explain this to anyone.

And just to point out to you yourself, a revered person, an educated one, I think you have come to an understanding of the situation in Iran regarding the negative impacts of the sanctions. I would like to extend an invitation to you or any female reporter from your publication to travel to Iran next week. There's going to be an exhibition attended by women reporters. They are able to move throughout the country without hindrance. They can take pictures of anything, anywhere, go to any other places without any problems and they can just report what they see and what they actually witness through their own eyes. I know that, as a revered person, you seek truth and justice, so you have to elaborate on these two elements from your own perspective.

But coming back to the U.S. policy, I have to say that the general policy sought by different administrations in the U.S. has been to colonize whatever independent countries refuse to go along with the global arrogance. So that is the main policy. They increase the level of pressure on any independence-seeking country so as to make it buckle down to the pressure and accept the excessive demands of the U.S. The reason behind the imposition of these sanctions lies within these principles, assaults by the use of escalation.