New Iranian President's Hollow Promises

A new president but the same old tyrannical lunacy. 

I was reading articles on the Guardian today and came across this. The new president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, was sworn in. He offered surprising promises of "moderation and respect." He even promised to "protect individual rights." Here is an excerpt below from the article discussing his speech:

"People want change," said the new president, who described himself as the representative of all Iranian people and not only those who voted for him in the election. "People want to live better, to have dignity as well as a stable life. They also want to recapture their deserving position among nations," he said.
He also pledged to promote women's rights and advance equality for women in society, despite proposing a cabinet of all men. 

Now, I left out the part when he talked about foreign policy, peace talks, and interventionism. I want to focus on his sketchy promises regarding individual rights and women's rights. I literally started laughing when I read this. Here are actual word for word excerpts from the Iranian Constitution.

Article 20
All citizens of the country, both men and women, equally enjoy the protection of the law
and enjoy all human, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, in conformity with
Islamic criteria. 

Article 24
Publications and the press have freedom of expression except when it is where there is
infringement of the basic tenets of Islam

Oh that's not all. I just don't want to continue to read this piece of trash constitution. Here's the thing about a theocratic tyrannical government, it's theocratic and tyrannical. The Iranians "rights" are subservient to the Quran and the tenants of Islam enforced by the government. You can forget about freedom of religion as Islam is the national religion set forth by the constitution.

The whole women's rights thing is also a sham. They still stone women and public lashings are used to punish women for immodesty. Women are limited in what to major in and what classes can be taken. They can't even travel outside the country or get a passport without their male guardian to approve it. The Guardian smartly points to Iran's "all men cabinet" in the article to critique the promise of women's rights. Here is a human rights report for 2012. Homosexuals are also put to death.

How people, especially women are stoned in Iran.

A new president spewing hollow promises for protection of individual rights is just pathetic. It's a like a new boss of a mafia organization promising more "moderation and respect." They have their well entrenched Islamic laws and a government that puts itself first before its people. This new president is no Nelson Mandela. He is no Pope Francis. He is another tyrant to impose the anti-liberty, anti-woman, and anti-gay laws of Iran.

The human rights situation in Iran continues to arouse concern from the world's leading watchdog groups, with reports of ongoing abuses since the disputed 2009 presidential election provoked mass protests. A March 2013 report by a UN Special Rapporteur cites "widespread and systemic" torture, harassment, arrest, and attacks against human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists. 

Under an increasingly repressive regime focused on survival amid internal strife and external pressures, experts say prospects for reform are bleak, and urge the international community to keep the spotlight on Iran's human rights violations. Jayshree Bajoria, and Robert McMahon, Editor, Human Rights in Iran, http://www.cfr.org/iran/human-rights-iran/p26380 (accessed 8/5/2013)