Masoumeh Ebtekar

Masoumeh Ebtekar (Persian: معصومه ابتکار; born 1960) is an Iranian scientist and politician. Her original name is Niloofar Ebtekar.^[1]

She was the first female Vice President of Iran, as the head of the Environment Protection Organization of Iran during the administration of President Mohammad Khatami, and is currently a city councilwoman elect of Tehran.[1] Ebtekar is also famous for being the spokeswoman of the students who had occupied the US Embassy during the Iran hostage crisis and as a critic of the Taliban's oppresion of women. She is a member of the reformist political party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

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Education and family

Ebtekar's father studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and she is reported to have lived with her parents in Upper Darby of Philadelphia for 3 years.^[2] Another source lists her have having lived in Phili for six years as a child, from whense she developed "near-perfect, American-accented English." ^[3]

Ebtekar hold a BSc degree in laboratory science from Shahid Beheshti University, and a PhD in immunology from Tarbiat Modares University in 1995, where she still teaches.

Ebtekar is married and has two children.

Teenage Activism and Role in Iran Hostage Crisis

In the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, Ebtekar was the spokeswoman of the students who had occupied the US Embassy and took the 52 Americans hostage of 444 days. Selected because of her good command of English Dubbed "Screaming Mary" by the US press, she made regular appearances on American television where she listed the `crimes` of America and denounced the hostages as spies who should be put on trial. "Asked by an ABC News correspondent one day whether she could see herself picking up a gun and killing the hostages, she replied: `yes. When I've seen an American gun being lifted up and killing my bothers and sisters in the streets, of course.`^[4]

Ebtekar wrote an account of the embassy takeover with Fred A. Reed entitled Takeover in Tehran: The Inside Story of the 1979 U.S. Embassy Capture (ISBN 0-88922-443-9), which was published in 2000 by Talonbooks.

After the hostages were freed she changed her name from Niloufar to Massoumeh. When asked about her past as spokeswman in the late 1990s she was unapologetic about her role but suprised her American interviewer by insisting that the interviewer "not write much about these things." ^[5]

Government career

Later, in 1981, she became the editor-in-chief of the English daily newspaper Kayhan International, selected by Khatami who was then the representative of Ayatollah Khomeini in Kayhan Institute. She served in the newspaper until 1983. Since 1995, she has been the managing director of the journal Farzaneh.

Service as Iranian Vice President

Dr. Ebtekar is a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, a reformist party, and became the was the first woman to serve as Vice-President of Iran when that party came to power. Along with Zahra Shojaei, Dr. Ebtekar participated in the first cabinet since the Islamic Revolution to include women.

On International Women's Day in 1998, Dr. Ebtekar (then vice-president of environmental affairs) shocked the Western news media when she made an impassioned speech condemning the horrific oppression of women by the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan – because she herself was wearing a chador, which many in the West view as oppressive, as well as the perceived violations of women's rights in Iran. Under the Taliban, women were forced to wear heavy burkas that covered their faces and were never allowed out without a male escort.

Post Vice-Presidential Environmental Leadership

Dr. Ebtekar was named one of the seven 2006 Champions of the Earth by the United Nations as a prominent and "inspirational" environmental leader who has made an impact at policy level in a region of the world. [2] [3]

Tehran City Council Elections 2007

Dr. Ebtekar ran for and was elected to the city council of Tehran for the term beginning in 2007. After the results were announced on February 11, 2007 it became apparent that she ranked as the 9th candidate out of 21 running.

In the order of votes earned, Dr. Ebtekar came one place below Parvin Ahmadinejad, the sister of the current President of Iran. [4]

Returns from a total of 1,656,558 ballots canvassed from 3,185 ballot boxes all over the city show the following candidates with the highest number of votes: 1- Mehdi Chamran: (603,766), 2- Morteza Talaie: (539,761), 3- Rasoul Khadem: )427,097), 4- Abbas Sheibani: (394,457), 5- Hadi Saei: (384,358), 6- Hamzeh Shakib: (330,233), 7- Alireza Dabir: (306,729), 8- Parvin Ahmadinejad: (242,501), 9- Masoumeh Ebtekar: (232,959), 10- Ahmad Masjed-Jame'i: (216,015),

Sources

1. ^ http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/intrntnl/country/mideast.html
2. ^ http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/intrntnl/country/mideast.html
3. ^ Sciolino, Persian Mirrors, (2005), p.116
4. ^ Sciolino, Elaine, Persian Persian Mirrors : the Elusive Face of Irans, Free Press, (2005), p.116-118
5. ^ Sciolino, Persian Mirrors (2005), p.116-118

Her name was registered as Massoumeh Ebtekar when born in 1960, she is called Niloufar at home and by friends. The acronym Sister Mary was used at the time of the American embassy takeover in 1979. Dr Ebtekar is one of the founders of the Islamic Participation Front Party, she became Vice President before the Party existed. A compilation of her speeches on sustainable development and peace during her Tenure as Vice President of Iran has been published under the title "Natural Peace and Ethics".

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