Monday, February 12, 2018

Iran Air: A Woman in Command — Interview with CEO Farzaneh Sharafbafi

While the West is all in a huff about repression of women in Iran over the headscarf law, women occupy senior positions in industry and government.
Invited to Paris by the French-Iranian Center along with some 30 Iranian business leaders, the aeronautical engineer sought to break the clichés about the Iranian women. Translated excerpts from the interview follow:

LE POINT: An Iranian woman as a chief executive … Is this not contradictory?

SHARAFBAFI: No, I don’t see any contradiction whatsoever. Why should it be the case?

LE POINT: Considering the Islamic law in Iran, it seems hardly conceivable that a woman could occupy such a position.

SHARAFBAFI: This is nothing new. It has been more than a decade since I was general manager of Iran Air. Beyond my case, a very large number of women in Iran are in positions of importance. Today, 17% of our managers at Iran Air are women. So we do not feel it’s new or special.

LE POINT: So you don’t feel like being an exception in Iran?

SHARAFBAFI: I am an exception by nature (laughs). But I do not think that my appointment broke the taboo you describe. Do not forget that we have a large number of deputy ministers and vice presidents in Iran who are women. For example, Ms. Laya Joneydi is vice president for legal affairs.
US allies like Saudi Arabia?

Financial Tribune (Iran)
Interview

See also

The American Conservative
How American Media Spin-Doctored the Iranian Protests
Sharmine Narwani


1 comment:

Kaivey said...

The American Conservative is good.