Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died after a helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in the mountainous area of northwestern Iran on Sunday.
Iranian media today confirmed the death of Raisi, 63, along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian; The governor of East Azerbaijan province, Malek Rahmati, the Friday prayer imam of Tabriz, Mohammad Ali Alehashem, as well as the pilot, co-pilot, crew chief, security chief and another bodyguard.
Grainy images released by IRNA showed what the state news agency described as the crash site.
The soldiers, speaking in the local Azeri language, said: “There it is, we found it.”
But who exactly is President Raisi’s wife, Jamileh Alamolhoda? Continue reading below to learn everything you need to know about the woman who once claimed that it is an act of violence for women to work and study.
Jamileh Alamolhoda, wife of Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi, speaks to journalists during the first Khorsheed International Media Festival in the northeastern city of Mashhad, September 30, 2023.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died after a helicopter carrying him and other officials crashed in the mountainous area of northwestern Iran on Sunday.
Who is President Raisi’s wife, Jamileh Alamolhoda?
Born in 1965 in Iran’s second most populous city, Mashhad, Jamileh Alamolhoda earned a PhD in Philosophy of Education from Shahid Beheshti University.
She married Ebrahim Raisi at the age of 18 and the couple had two daughters together.
In 2001, he became a faculty member at the Department of Educational Leadership and Development at Shahid Beheshti University.
Beyond her exploits in Iran, she has proven to be a controversial figure around the world for her outspoken opinions on the role of women in society.
In an interview with Venezuelan state television in June 2023, Alamolhoda claimed that governments abuse women sexually or in the workplace in the name of freedom.
Speaking alongside her husband on national television channel teleSUR, she said at the time that women’s rights organizations focused too much on cases of domestic violence and claimed that “organized violence outside the family is much more important.” .
‘We want women to continue being women. Why should we be like men? Why should we study, work or live like men? “This is a form of violence,” she said, according to Iran International.
Jamileh Alamolhoda attends the first Khorsheed International Media Festival in the northeastern city of Mashhad, on October 30, 2023.
She further fanned the flames just a few months later, in September, by saying that Iran’s prison sentences for women who choose not to wear hijab were “out of respect for women.”
The Iranian president’s wife spoke out after the country’s parliament passed a controversial bill that would increase prison sentences and fines for women and girls who violate its strict dress code.
At the time the bill was passed, anyone who did not comply risked a prison sentence of between 10 days and two months or a fine of between 5,000 and 500,000 rials (between $0.10 and $10.14 per black market exchange rate).
He went on to compare such a law to the introduction of dress codes in workplaces, adding: ‘There are dress codes everywhere, even here in university environments, in schools and everywhere.
‘And I need to tell you that the hijab was a tradition, a tradition imposed by a religious mandate, widely accepted. And now, for years, it has become law. And violating the law, trampling any law, as in any country, carries its own punishments,” he stated.
When asked in an ABC interview what she thought should happen to women who choose not to wear clothes, Jamileh responded: “It’s out of respect for women.”
‘It is natural in any country. There may be differences of opinion and views on dress codes. It’s about their tastes, how they choose to live their lives and their social rights.’
In November 2023, Jamileh Alamolhoda sparked further controversy for her choice of words in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife, Brigitte, urging her to seek a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In November 2023, he sparked further controversy over his choice of words in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife, Brigitte, urging her to seek a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
She wrote: ‘Dear Mrs Macron! Please, as a kind and selfless woman who represents the women, mothers and daughters of France, ask her husband not to be complicit in the murder of defenseless Palestinian children and women.
“I wish you God’s reward for your humanitarian efforts.”
He wrote the letter without knowing that Brigitte had accompanied the French president during a visit to Israel to express her support for his government.