The new ambassador to Finland appointed by the Iranian leadership “raises eyebrows”, reports an Iranian opposition newspaper Iran international.
President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi confirmed on June 26 that the Iranian Embassy in Helsinki will be headed by a midwife and university teacher Masoumeh Abad.
Abad has become famous in Iran after being a prisoner of war in Iraq in the 80s. Abad has no previous diplomatic background, and his experience in politics is only at the local level in the Tehran city council. Now we have to move to an unknown Nordic country, Finland.
According to Iran International, Abadi’s selection has caused consternation and has been criticized by several diplomats. For example, a former diplomat Fereydoun Majlesi has commented sarcastically, according to the newspaper, that “Abad can now help the pious in Finland in giving birth to Islam”.
So what is the special designation all about?
Doctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki specializing in Middle Eastern politics Bruno Jäntti believes that the deciding factor in the appointment decision was Abad’s gender.
Abad is the first female diplomat appointed under President Rais. In Iran, since the 1979 Islamic revolution, only five women have been elected as diplomats. One of them was the former ambassador of Finland Forouzandeh Vadiati.
– Abad hardly has any work experience in the field of diplomacy, so the appointment is not based on the fact that he has demonstrated his competence in managing intergovernmental relations, says Jäntti.
– In the EU, the reputation of the Iranian government is at rock bottom. The administration of Iran perhaps thinks that the public image of the Islamic state would be affected in accordance with the administration’s interest by the fact that a woman sits at the head of the country’s diplomatic mission in the Nordic countries.
There is internal turmoil in Iran
An exceptionally large popular movement started in Iran last fall, when the 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the hands of the police. She was arrested and beaten because she refused to wear the mandatory headscarf for women. Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to defend women’s rights and democracy.
Iran’s conservative Islamist regime has tried to suppress the uprising by torturing, killing and imprisoning protesters, but the movement has not been contained, Jäntti sums up.
According to Jänt, Iran’s tense domestic political situation and bad reputation in the eyes of EU countries create pressure for the Islamist regime in diplomatic choices. Iran is under economic sanctions and needs trade partners.
However, it is not necessarily easy for the conservative Islamist regime to find qualified and fluent women as its representatives. It can be counted to Abad’s advantage that she has lived abroad and her husband has represented Iran in trade negotiations.
However, Jäntti does not believe that the tarnished reputation of the Iranian regime would be cleaned up so easily in Finland.
– The decision to appoint a woman as ambassador to Finland seems like a PR trick that will hardly bear fruit in Finland. The vast majority of Iranians consider this kind of trickery to be sad.
Conservative defender of governance
Masoumeh Abadi’s family is close to Iran’s current president, Ebrahim Rais, and one can conclude that Abadi supports a conservative interpretation of Shiism.
He has told the Iranian media Isn’t in an interview that she participated with her husband in the activities of the English Islamic Center in London. The center is suspected to have received its funding from the Iranian administration. The center has since come under investigation and has been closed.
The Mellunmäki mosque in Helsinki also has connections to the same center. Helsingin sanomat newspaper investigated the background of the mosque in his story, because some Iranians in Finland are afraid of the mosque and accuse it of spreading the Iranian regime’s propaganda in Finland.
Abad tells Isna that he does not consider political competence to be important in carrying out the ambassador’s position. According to him, his task in Finland is to “give a true picture of the face of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, to have a positive influence on public opinion and to show that the position of women in Iran is “very good”. The story was published at the beginning of July.
Finland is known as a defender of women’s rights
Finnish Iranian Bahar Mozaffari believes, like Bruno Jänt, that the ambassador’s gender has been a significant selection criterion.
– Finland is known in Iran for emphasizing women’s rights and equality. I feel like they just had to try and find a female character.
Mozaffari serves as the vice-chairman of the board of the Central Federation of Women’s Organizations and as the chairperson of Soraya – equality association to improve the status of Iranian women. After the large-scale protests started in Iran, the topic has become a topic of conversation in Finland. Leading Finnish politicians have taken a stand on behalf of Iranian women Tarja from Halo the convention Saara-Sofia to Sirén.
– My interpretation is that Abadi’s appointment is related to the ongoing struggle in Iran to improve the status of women. Abad is in a good position herself, and her message is that criticism of the status of women is unwarranted.
For the article, also interviewed the Iranian ambassador Kari Kahiluoto with. Kahiluoto has met Masoumeh Abad.