Ali Motahari gives a racist/sexist rant: Women resort to African men

A candidate for the presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Motahari, on Tuesday, issued a racist and misogynist diatribe against black men and women during a clubhouse call with more than 6,000 participants. He went on to say that God wants men to be sexually aroused, we must be sexually excited. A man is sick if he is not sexually stimulated by the sea.

Motahari, a member of the Hope fraction of the 10th parliament claims that if a referendum is held, the majority of the people will not vote for the optional hijab! It has been a while that some political figures in cyberspace have shown more activity, especially those aspiring to run in the presidential election. In recent days, there has been a hot market for interviews, conversations and debates in the so-called clubhouse cyberspace, and people like Ali Motahari, who have announced their willingness to run in the presidential election, have a more substantial presence in it. A member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for several terms and a member of the Hope fraction of the 10th parliament last night(Tuesday, April 6) participated in an interview at the Club House and delivered a speech that was strongly reflected in cyberspace and received much criticism and irony.

According to Khabar Online, Ali Motahari mentioned in part of his speech that he does not see Hijab as a choice and does not believe in freedom of Hijab. I do not consider being half-naked to be human freedom, and I consider it animal and instinctive freedom, said Ali Motahari. He has taken up a challenging stance on women’s freedom and rights, voicing opposition to the crackdown on those so-called unveiled. I still believe that if a referendum is conducted, most of the people will not vote for the hijab,” he said.

Support for austerity if it is not detrimental to the revolution

Motahari did not explain the basis of his assessment, but he has said similar things before. As the deputy speaker of the parliament in 2018, he said: I am against the optional hijab because the optional hijab contributes to nudity, but the fact that the hijab is compulsory does not mean that it should be taken very strictly. For example, many women do not observe the complete hijab right now, but no one opposes them. These strictures are harmful to the revolution. In fact, this presidential candidate does not take into account the unjustified judgment on the type of dressing for citizens as an accepted criterion of human rights, but rather on the basis of whether it is harmful or beneficial to the state of the revolution. In other words, it is said implicitly by Motahari that strictness on the way women dress is legitimate if it is not “harmful to the revolution.” In July 2014, Ali Motahari began to protest against the authorities for not treating those who, in his opinion, do not adhere to the Islamic hijab, and engendered controversy by broadcasting pictures of “women wearing compression socks” in the open court of the parliament.

Sexual arousal as God wants

If someone is not sexually provoked by the sea, he is sick, the former deputy speaker of parliament said in another part of his speech, assessed as ridiculous and controversial in cyberspace in defense of the Islamic Republic’s regulations on feminization and masculinity of swimming pools. God wants us to be provoked, we must be provoked. Motahari’s remarks insulting and reduce the freedom of dress to animal freedom and the explicit and wise defense of polygamy have also sparked off with many negative reactions.

The following phrases were also used by this parliament member and the candidate for the Islamic presidential election, which many cyberspace users have called shameful and racist. According to online news, Motahari said: It is good that our young men are aroused by seeing a woman’s hand. They have a problem in Europe right now and they are not provoked. Men are not aroused and women turn to African men! Faraj Sarkohi who is a journalist and literary critic, said in a Twitter message that it was not comprehensible that some people in Motahari’s club room had heard the dirtiest insults to themselves and to all of humanity but had not left the room to protest.

The 63-year-old Motahari has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Tehran. He has served in the Iranian regime’s parliament. He is the son of Morteza Motahari, who was a Shi’ite scholar and disciple of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and he is the man who has set a new low in terms of racism and sexism. Also a candidate for the presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Featured image: Tehran Times

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Mahtab