BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 23. In the view of the recent events in Iran with regard to protests against the ill-treatment of the population, especially women, by the authorities, the country is desperately trying to rehabilitate itself in the eyes of the world community.
The article in Iran International said the First International Congress for Women of Influence was held in Iran, Tehran on Friday with female guests including wives of heads of state, ministers, vice presidents, and parliamentarians from Burkina Faso, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkmenistan, and Armenia.
According to the source, it was expected that the first ladies of Iran's closest friends, namely Russia, China and Syria, or at least several ministers or parliamentarians of these countries would also take part in the congress, but, apparently, "the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic did not cope with this task."
The absence of the first ladies of important neighboring and Muslim countries at this congress confirms the crisis in Iran's relations with its neighbors, the source noted.
"The wife of the Armenian Prime Minister attended the congress in a situation when Iran is waging a cold war with the Republic of Azerbaijan. Thus, the visit of the First Lady of Armenia to Iran is more of a message to Azerbaijan and its regional ally Türkiye than a show of respect for the Islamic Republic," the Iran International article says.
Moreover, "according to the Secretary of the Congress, each winner was awarded a prize of 20,000 euros. If the statement of the organizers of the congress about the presence of 300 foreign guests at this meeting is true, then the cost of plane tickets, their 5-day stay in a five-star hotel and excursions in Iran amounted to a huge amount," the article said.
Amid the economic problems faced by ordinary Iranians, spending huge amounts of money on people without influence is an important issue that requires more attention, Rouydad 24 news website said.
"In fact, to prove that Iran's exclusion from the UN Commission on the Status of Women and other foreign sanctions had no effect, the administration of President Raisi invited unknown guests in a strange way to show that Iran's relations with the world are normal," the article noted.
Another point related to the presence of these women in Iran was that the guests who appeared at the ceremony were dressed in outfits that had nothing to do with the mandatory rules of wearing the hijab, because of which Iran has killed more than 500 people since mid-September. In other words, women from other countries are free to wear whatever they like in Iran, but this right is an unattainable desire for Iranian women themselves, Iranian media pointed out.