article_snippet: In Faraz Sanei March 11 speech to the Commission, Molaverdi said that "the Islamic Republic of Iran has always had the empowerment of women and improving women status...on the Islamic Republic of Iran agenda.
article_snippet: Molaverdi described the significant progress Iranian women have made in education and science, citing unilateral economic sanctions and violence against women as factors that have impeded the full realization of women's rights.
article_snippet: The sobering reality, all too familiar to Molaverdi, is that Iranian women face discrimination in many aspects of Iranian women lives, ranging from issues related to marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody, to restrictions on dress and even access to sports stadiums as spectators.
article_snippet: What's striking about Kayhan's attack is that Iran's powerful security and intelligence apparatus has for years acted to repress independent groups, including women's rights activists.
article_snippet: But those hostile to women's rights in Iran remain unrelenting.
article_snippet: Anyone who fails, willingly or unknowingly, to heed those hostile to women's rights in Iran threats may face reprisals, as several activists who attempted to attend similar U.N. events in previous years found out.
article_snippet: Yet Kayhan's attack also reflects the resilience and adaptability of women's groups in Iran as women's groups in Iran continue to challenge the state's monopoly on the women's rights narrative.
article_snippet: While Iranian women lost some important legal rights after the 1979 revolution, Iranian women social and economic stature increased on average as Iranian women gained wider access to education, health care, and birth control.
article_snippet: The image of the compromised and submissive woman engendered by Iran's discriminatory legal system bears little resemblance to the private and public lives of many Iranian women today.
article_snippet: So while we rightfully condemn the disconnect between what Molaverdi said at the United Nations, and what Iranian women face, let us not lose sight of another reality:
article_snippet: the paradox that exists in Iran between the state's regressive laws and policies against women, and the tireless and undaunted drive for change and equality by those who will not be denied.
highlights_snippet: Faraz Sanei : Women's groups in Iran have remained adaptable .
  
highlights_snippet: Those hostile to women's rights in Iran remain unrelenting, Faraz Sanei says .