Women’s rights, Saudi Arabia’s other fight against Iran

Authorization to drive, to access stadiums, to travel alone … Saudi Arabia multiplies gestures towards women. A way to taunt Iran, its Shiite rival.

These are distilled advances in small doses that are part of Riyadh’s strategy. Embarrassed in the war in Yemen and in the case of the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi , Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tries to show off by granting rights to Saudi women : “This is part of a project of Mohammed bin Salman which consists of showing a modernist face of the Saudi regime at the international level. For this, improve the legal status of women explains the sociologist Azadeh Kian, author of Women and Power in Islam. “Showing that you are progressive to be legitimate, it works very well,” says the sociologist.

This progress on women’s rights is also part of the “Vision 2030” plan launched in 2016 and led by Mohammed bin Salman. Riyadh’s goal is to diversify its oil-dependent economy. With this in mind, since February 2018, women can even obtain a business creation permit. Surprising from one of the most conservative countries in the world. But to facilitate the access of Saudi women to the labour market allows them to integrate into the economy: “It is a way for the kingdom to nationalize employment by privileging Saudi nationals to the detriment of foreigners,” says Azadeh Kian.

Rivalry with Iran

Beyond the national stakes, this positive development is also part of a context of rivalry and increasing tension with the other power of the region: Iran. By granting these rights to Saudi women, the kingdom seeks to compete with its Shia enemy. And the competition is tough, as Iranian women are the most socialized women in the Middle East: they work, drive freely, have the right to vote and stand since 1963, against 2015 in Saudi Arabia.

“In Iran, civil society is way ahead of the institutions that govern it,” said Azadeh Kian. Moderate President Hassan Rohani has never concealed his desire to give more freedom to youth and women. It was even part of his campaign promise. “The government of Rohani and his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wish to present a friendlier face and this goes through the issue of gender,” said Azadeh Kian.

While Saudi Arabia is already opposing Iran in Syria and Yemen, the Wahhabi kingdom is also embarking on a race for gender equality and wants to embody a reformist and moderate Islam against the Islamic Republic. Shiite. In a column published in the New York Times, writer Roya Hakakian rejoices: “In this competition between the two regimes to embody the most moderate Islam, women are the beneficiaries.”

At the same time, the coalition formed with the United States and Israel is trying to isolate Iran on the international scene. “What is emerging in the current reshaping of the Middle East is a new axis between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States, gathered by their common hatred of the Iranian regime and their willingness to reduce its grip on the region” , wrote in 2017 Christophe Ayad , head of the international service of the World.

According to Bernard Hourcade, an Iranian geographer and CNRS emeritus research director, if the countries of the region want a weakened Iran, it is because its rise is a danger for them: “If we leave the Iranian society to develop normally, Iran becomes a power not military or political but a society where women play a central role and that is dangerous for the fundamentalists in the region, “he analysis. In Iran, “it is not bombs but women who are rethinking the social and political model. They have emerged as the most durable and revolutionary active social group.”

We remember the 1979 revolution that led to the fall of the monarchy in 1979. Soon, the women took to the streets: “I saw them, these women in black chador in the streets who screamed” down the shah! “They came to politics,” recalls Hourcade.

Mohammed bin Salman “gives pledges of freedom to show that he is progressing […] but at the same time he is torturing women’s rights activists”. — Azadeh Kian, sociologist

Even today, Iranian women are fighting for rights, and the reforms the state has made over the years are the result of these demands: “The changes that have recently come to power in Saudi Arabia, are in fact a mask-making believe in the respect of human rights. […] These evolutions that come from above affect the privileged classes, and do not consist in changes of substance, “for its part considers the feminist group Iranian Bidarzani which works to sensitize the Iranians to the equality gender and women’s rights.

Azadeh Kian joins these words. For her, Mohammed bin Salman “wants to be the standard-bearer of women’s demands. It gives proof of freedom to show that it is progressing against international decision-makers but at the same time, it is torturing women’s rights activists. In other words, he says: “the reforms are done as I want, and the others follow if it is the repression,” says the sociologist.

A big difference with Shiite Iran, where women are politicized and where the multiple sources of interpretations of Islam inevitably lead to dissenting voices in the system: “When, in Saudi Arabia, MBS decides something, the religious will obey. In Iran, the sports minister says that women can enter the stadiums and at the same time an ayatollah says the opposite, “said Azadeh Kian.

A risky bet for Saudi Arabia

“Mohammed bin Salman is doing what the shah did in the 1960s,” said Hourcade. Beyond the image he builds, the crown prince has no choice: “In front of him, Iran and its 40 million women to 95% schooled and who -certes with ups and downs. low-income jobs.”

These reforms could eventually turn against Riyadh. Indeed, says Azadeh Kian, once they achieve financial independence through access to employment, Saudi women could bring new claims. “It’s a time bomb for Saudi ulemas. […] The danger is that there are 100,000 women in the streets of Jeddah. Because by educating women, they are allowed an awareness that could challenge the social and political order, “ anticipates the geographer.

The other possibility is to see Tehran cede on some issues, paving the way for more freedom for Iranian women, the opposite of what Riyadh wants: “If our government sees that it is falling behind, maybe could give more rights to women, “ says an Iranian. “If the system sees a benefit or finds that the absence of these rights causes him problems on the international, perhaps it will grant certain rights to women,” hopes another, Négin.

Rancors in Iran

Meanwhile, Riyadh has scored points: these advances in the Wahhabi kingdom are fueling the resentment of the Iranian people towards its leaders: “We are regressing to a situation similar to theirs while they [Saudi Arabia] go to the front and take our place”, despairs Reza. “When we see that an Arab, much more religious, has more and more rights in an Islamic country, we realize that the Iranian system is very severe and that pushes us to have more claims,” said Negine. “When MBS allows women to enter stadiums or to participate in concerts, it causes jealousy among young people in Iran. […]For the Iranian nationalist spirit, it is unbearable to see that the Arabs are more progressive than they are, “ says Azadeh Kian.

Despite this resentment, many Iranian women are not fooled: “We are sure that the people who follow the news will find that these reforms that come from above do not actually create changes in the lives of women in Saudi Arabia,” explains the feminist group Bidarzani. For Nastaran, these changes concern only the Saudi bourgeoisie: “We are far behind many countries in the world, but we are more advanced than them. Iranian society does not look at Saudi society.”

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