Women in Iran

The image of women in Iran has undergone dramatic change in recent years. Today, many Iranian women play a much more active role in their nation's economic and social life than during the Shah era. More than half of all students at Iranian universities are female. And in professional life, many Iranian women are keeping pace with their male counterparts, working as doctors, engineers, teachers and university lecturers. As actors and directors, they are making a significant contribution to the cultural life of their nation. And despite all the restrictions imposed on them by Islamic moral guardians in public life, they are making their presence felt in the sporting world too – something that would have been unthinkable just decades ago.

Camerawoman working on a film set

Bus driver in Tehran

Headscarf football fun in a Teheran park

Female scientist at a research centre

University graduation ceremony

Ladies playing sports in a public park

Young Iranians practising karate

Mountain bikers

Iranian women participating in a martial arts competition

Iranian women buying sports clothing

Mountain climber

Alpine skiing in Iran

Two female musicians playing in an orchestra

Musicians in a group playing traditional Iranian music

A young woman playing the tympani in an orchestra

A peasant woman in Southern Iran