The Lengths Iran Will Go to Cover Its Abuse Of Women

These are the lengths that Ahmadinejad's Iran will go in order to cover up the Iranian abuse of women in general and the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in particular:

New developments in the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old Iranian woman and mother of two who faces the death penalty for adultery and murder.

On Monday, Iranian state TV aired what it says was a statement from Ashtiani in which she called herself a sinner and said she had been "deceived" by lawyers.

On Tuesday an Iranian court official revealed that two German journalists who allegedly tried to interview her son and her lawyer were facing espionage charges.


"These two German citizens had come to Iran claiming to be tourists but their actions in Iran and in Tabriz, providing information and staging propaganda, indicates that they had come for spying," the head of East Azarbaijan provincial court, Malek Azhdar-Sharifi, was quoted as saying by Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.

Taken together, the two developments suggest the extreme extent to which Tehran is willing to go over the Ashtiani case, which is proving to be a humiliating blemish on the Islamic Republic's already battered international image.

But Iran goes even further--apparently falsifying evidence:

Like in previous broadcasts of her alleged confessions, Ashtiani's face was blurred in the footage. She made accusations that fit squarely with Iranian hardliners' constant refrain that Iran has a fine human-rights record, and that international concern over Ashtiani's fate is all part of some Western conspiracy to defame Iran.

The seven-minute interview marked the third time Ashtiani, or someone purporting to be her, appeared on television to confess her guilt. She was originally sentenced to death by stoning for having an extramarital romantic relationship, but Iranian authorities have recently sought to recast her as a murderer, saying she was complicit in her husband's killing five years ago. She is reportedly facing death by hanging now instead of stoning.

Some Iranian legal experts have found Ashtiani's previously publicized TV appearances puzzling and have cast serious doubt over her earlier confessions.

Why would Iran hide the face of the woman apparently confessing? It's not to hide the identity of the woman--after all, everyone knows who Ashtiani is. Unless it is not Ashtiani at all who is confessing here.

The Ashtiani case is only one of the reasons that the US proactively saw to it that Iran was blocked from joining UN Women--not that Iran is alone among Muslim countries where woman are abused:


(Hat tip: Israel Matzav)

Unfortunately, the abuse of women in the Muslim world is just one more area where the UN has turned a blind eye.

Technorati Tag: Iran.