Masoumeh Ebtekar
Masoumeh Ebtekar (Persian: معصومه ابتکار; born 1960) was the Iranian "Vice President" and the head of the Environment Protection Organization of Iran under President Mohammad Khatami and is Iran's equivalent to Ilse Koch of Nazi Germany or wartime Japan's Tokyo Rose.
Education
She was given by the current government of Iran an Elena Ceausescu-style BSc in laboratory science from Shahid Beheshti University, and a PhD in immunology from Tarbiat Modares University in 1995, where she still preaches.
Career
Iran hostage crisis
In the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, Ebtekar was the spokeswoman of the students who had occupied the US Embassy, selected for her good command of English, and was internationally known as Screaming Mary.[citation needed] She was also known to have been an active participant in inflicting physical and mental torture on the American hostages and is remembered by them for her sadistic cruelty.
Professional 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.
Anti-Taliban speech for International Women's Day
On International Women's Day in 1998, Dr. Ebtekar (then vice-president of environmental affairs) shocked the Western news media when she made an ironic and impassioned speech condemning the horrific oppression of women by the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan – even though she herself was wearing a chador and failed to mention her own government's long history of oppressing Iran's female population.
First woman Vice-President of Iran
Dr. Ebtekar was the first woman to serve as Vice-President of Iran. Along with Zahra Shojaei, Masoumeh Ebtekar participated in the first cabinet since the Islamic Revolution to include women as window-dressing.
Political affiliation
Vice President Ebtekar is also a member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, a "reformist" party founded in 1998 by a group of former hostage-takers.
Family
Ebtekar is married and has two children.
Awards and Honors
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. [1] [2]
Books
Her pontificating memoir about the Iranian hostage crisis is the first of over 30 books written in English. This book is : Takeover in Tehran: The Inside Story of the 1979 U.S. Embassy Capture (Paperback).
External links
- Profile: Masumeh Ebtekar, BBC's profile on Ebtekar
- Farzaneh Journal
- Iran Media Resources
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