Six members of the Iranian women’s soccer team publicly defected this week after an act of peaceful protest left them in the crosshairs of a notoriously brutal regime.
The Iranian government labeled the team “wartime traitors” earlier this month after they refused to salute or sing the Iranian national anthem before a match in Australia.
“Traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely,” an anchor on the government-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting commented on March 5 — less than a week after America launched devastating strikes on Iranian leadership.
“For you to go [to Australia] and not sing the national anthem, this is the pinnacle of dishonor and lack of patriotism,” the host continued. “Both the people and officials should treat these individuals as wartime traitors.”
Five soccer players — Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh and Mona Hamoudi — accepted Australian humanitarian visas on March 9. Australian police secreted the women out of their hotel, where their security had reportedly sequestered the team for bad behavior.
The next day, player Mohaddeseh Zolifi and support staff member Zahra Soltan Meshkeh Kar also chose to stay in Australia. Unfortunately, one of the duo — it’s unclear which — changed her mind. She returned to Iran with the rest of the team on March 11.
The brave women who fought to remain in Australia leave loved ones at the mercy of the Iranian regime. The equally brave women who returned to Iran could face fines, imprisonment — even execution.
The Iranian government has killed women for far less.
The sacrificial courage and conviction of the Iranian women’s soccer team is a poignant foil to what many American activists consider “fighting for women’s rights.”
Here, some women fight for the “right” to kill their preborn babies at any gestation and for any reason. Others fight for men who “identify” as women to invade women’s sports and spaces.
American women can fight for these incoherent and immoral interests precisely because they live in America, where the freedoms and protections guaranteed by the Constitution apply equally to both sexes.
Iran confers few such rights on any of its citizens — but women and girls least of all.
The Iranian constitution stipulates women need only receive equal rights and treatment to men when required by “Islamic criteria” — an undefined term giving the government near unfettered power to restrict women’s freedoms.
Accordingly, Iran does not offer women the same rights as men in:
- Marriage, divorce and custody proceedings
- Political participation
- Participation in sports, arts and the workforce
- Freedom of movement and dress
The Iranian justice system is similarly biased. Women receive less compensation for violations of their rights and face obstacles to winning in court. At best, the testimony of a woman carries half the legal weight of a man’s. For many crimes, women’s testimonies cannot be used at all.
Their lack of legal power is particularly problematic given how vulnerable Iranian women are to sexual assault and domestic violence. The law contains many loopholes for husbands and male relatives to harm women, including through so-called honor killings.
If a woman reports one of the few crimes of legally recognized sexual assault, she can only win her case if the perpetrator confesses or if she obtains testimony equivalent to that of four male witnesses. If she fails to prove her case, she can be prosecuted for sexual activity outside of marriage, which can result in punishments including flogging, stoning and death.
In 2024, the Iranian government passed new dress code restrictions further empowering government officials to arrest, detain and punish women for “inappropriate hijab,” including showing skin below the neck, above the ankles or above the forearms and wearing “tight clothing.”
The government ruthlessly suppresses protests against this and other laws restricting women’s freedoms. New outlets estimate the regime executed as many as 33,000 civilians leading up to American and Israeli strikes on the country in late February.
Iranian women must fight for women’s rights because they do not have any. American activists would do well to consider Iranians’ plight before deciding laws restricting abortion or protecting single-sex spaces come anywhere close to “violating” women’s rights.
Let’s strive for an iota of perspective.
Additional Articles and Resources
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Colorado Abortion Clinic Performs Third Trimester Abortions ‘For Any Reason’
Fact Check: Some babies are executed after they’re born.
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