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Ebtekar first achieved fame as the spokeswoman of the students who had occupied the US Embassy in 1979. Later she became the first female [[Vice President of Iran|Vice President]] of [[Iran]], the head of the [[Environment Protection Organization of Iran]] during the administration of President [[Mohammad Khatami]], and is currently a [[city council]]woman elect of [[Tehran]].<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_elections dead link]{{Dead link|date=November 2008}}</ref> She is a founding member of the Iranian reformist political party, the [[Islamic Iran Participation Front]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}
Ebtekar first achieved fame as the spokeswoman of the students who had occupied the US Embassy in 1979. Later she became the first female [[Vice President of Iran|Vice President]] of [[Iran]], the head of the [[Environment Protection Organization of Iran]] during the administration of President [[Mohammad Khatami]], and is currently a [[city council]]woman elect of [[Tehran]].<ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_elections dead link]{{Dead link|date=November 2008}}</ref> She is a founding member of the Iranian reformist political party, the [[Islamic Iran Participation Front]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}


Like many Iranian girls, she has two names, she was named Massoumeh at birth, but known as Niloufar among friends and relatives.<ref name="archives.upenn.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/intrntnl/country/mideast.html |title=A Brief History of Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania |publisher=Archives.upenn.edu |date= |accessdate=2008-11-18}}</ref> Ebtekar is married to Seyyed Mohammad Hashemi who has been only active in the private sector for more than two decades, and they have two children.
Originally known as Niloufar Ebtekar, she changed her public name sometime after the hostage crisis to Massoumeh. She is known as Niloufar among friends and relatives.<ref name="archives.upenn.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/intrntnl/country/mideast.html |title=A Brief History of Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania |publisher=Archives.upenn.edu |date= |accessdate=2008-11-18}}</ref> Ebtekar is married to Seyyed [[Mohammad Hashemi]], another former hostage activist who became highly-placed Iranian official, (he is now in the private sector). They have two children.


==Education and family==
==Education and family==
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On [[International Women's Day]] in 1998, as vice-president of environmental affairs, she made an impassioned {{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} speech condemning the [[Taliban treatment of women|horrific oppression of women]] by the [[Taliban|Taliban Movement]] in [[Afghanistan]]. Her performance caused comment by members of the Western [[news media]] in attendance as she herself was wearing a [[chador]], a reminder of cumpulsory hijab in Iran which many in the West view as a violation of women's rights.
On [[International Women's Day]] in 1998, as vice-president of environmental affairs, she made an impassioned {{Citation needed|date=May 2009}} speech condemning the [[Taliban treatment of women|horrific oppression of women]] by the [[Taliban|Taliban Movement]] in [[Afghanistan]]. Her performance caused comment by members of the Western [[news media]] in attendance as she herself was wearing a [[chador]], a reminder of cumpulsory hijab in Iran which many in the West view as a violation of women's rights.


In the United States her appointment and uncovering of her past led to a question of whether President Khatami was aware of "how deeply" the hostage taking and holding, and anger towards its foremost public defender "affected both the American government and the American people."<ref>"Top Woman in Iran's Government Once Spoke for Hostage-Takers," ''New York Times'', January 28, 1998, p.A6</ref> Many academics and literary critiques have written and expressed their views on these memoirs.<ref>[dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2419961 -]</ref> Following this, "some ambassadors" in Tehran reportedly stated they would no "longer meet with her" and would "discourage official contract with her office."<ref>"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?", ''New York Times'', Feb. 1, 1998</ref> In her recently published memoirs,she has however repeatedly referred to her cordial and official contacts with not only Western Ambassadors but European Ministers and Presidents as well.<ref>[http://greenebtekar.persianblog.ir/post/291/]</ref>
In the United States her appointment and uncovering of her past led to a question of whether President Khatami was aware of "how deeply" the hostage taking and holding, and anger towards its foremost public defender "affected both the American government and the American people."<ref>"Top Woman in Iran's Government Once Spoke for Hostage-Takers," ''New York Times'', January 28, 1998, p.A6</ref> Many academics and literary critiques have written and expressed their views on these memoirs.<ref>[dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2419961 -]</ref> Following this, "some ambassadors" in Tehran reportedly stated they would no "longer meet with her" and would "discourage official contract with her office."<ref>"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?", ''New York Times'', Feb. 1, 1998</ref> However, in her published memoirs, Ebtekar insists she has had cordial and official contacts with European ambassadors, ministers and presidents.<ref>[http://greenebtekar.persianblog.ir/post/291/]</ref>


===Post-vice-presidential environmental activism===
===Post-vice-presidential environmental activism===

Revision as of 18:02, 8 December 2009

Masoumeh Ebtekar (Template:Lang-fa; born 1960) is an Iranian scientist and politician. She is currently the director of Peace and Environment Center in Tehran.

Ebtekar first achieved fame as the spokeswoman of the students who had occupied the US Embassy in 1979. Later she became the first female Vice President of Iran, the head of the Environment Protection Organization of Iran during the administration of President Mohammad Khatami, and is currently a city councilwoman elect of Tehran.[1] She is a founding member of the Iranian reformist political party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front.[citation needed]

Originally known as Niloufar Ebtekar, she changed her public name sometime after the hostage crisis to Massoumeh. She is known as Niloufar among friends and relatives.[2] Ebtekar is married to Seyyed Mohammad Hashemi, another former hostage activist who became highly-placed Iranian official, (he is now in the private sector). They have two children.

Education and family

Ebtekar's father studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and she is reported to have lived with her parents in Upper Darby of Philadelphia for 3 years.[2] Another source lists her have having lived in Philadelphia for six years as a child, from whence she developed "near-perfect, American-accented English." [3] As a student in Iran she became a supporter of the political Islam of Ali Shariati and began wearing a traditional black chador covering everything except her face.[4]

She holds a BSc degree in laboratory science from Shahid Beheshti University, a MSc and PhD in immunology from Tarbiat Modares University in 1995, where she still teaches.

Early activism and role in Iran Hostage Crisis

Ebtekar served as spokeswoman for the students in the Iran hostage crisis of 1979, where Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line occupied the US Embassy and held 52 Americans hostage of 444 days. Selected because of her good command of English, she made regular appearances on American television where she listed the 'crimes' of America and denounced the hostages as spies who should be put on trial.

Asked by an ABC News correspondent one day whether she could see herself picking up a gun and killing the hostages, she replied: 'yes. When I've seen an American gun being lifted up and killing my brothers and sisters in the streets, of course.'[5]

She wrote an account of the embassy takeover with Fred A. Reed entitled Takeover in Tehran: The Inside Story of the 1979 U.S. Embassy Capture [6] She is said to be remembered by many Americans (hostages such as David Roeder, Barbara Timm, the mother of hostage Kevin Hermening and those who watched her on television) with a great lack of fondness, in part because "her familiarity with America added profound emphasis to her rejection of it." [7]

When asked by an American interviewer (Elaine Sciolino) in the late 1990s about her past as spokeswoman for the hostage-takers, why it did not appear on her resume, and why she had changed her name from Nilofar to Masoumeh, Ebtekar "had no apology and made no excuses" about her role[8] describing the hostage taking as "the best direction that could have been taken" by Iran at the time, but surprised the interviewer with her "chutzpah", insisting that the interviewer "not write much about these things." [9]

Social and Government career

In 1981, Ebtekar 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. In 1991 she co-founded the Institute for Women's Studies and Research. Since 1992, she has been the license holder and managing director of the journal Farzaneh for Women's Studies and Research. Ebtekar was appointed as the Head of Women's NGO Coordinating Office and Vice Head of the National Committee to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. Laterو she was elected as the President of the Network of Women's NGOs in Iran.

Vice presidency

Ebtekar is a founding member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front,[citation needed] a reformist party, and became the was the first woman to serve as Vice-President of Iran when the reformists came to power. Along with Zahra Shojaei, she participated in the first cabinet since the Islamic Revolution to include women. She has been described as a leftist in Mohammad Khatami's alliance.[10]

On International Women's Day in 1998, as vice-president of environmental affairs, she made an impassioned [citation needed] speech condemning the horrific oppression of women by the Taliban Movement in Afghanistan. Her performance caused comment by members of the Western news media in attendance as she herself was wearing a chador, a reminder of cumpulsory hijab in Iran which many in the West view as a violation of women's rights.

In the United States her appointment and uncovering of her past led to a question of whether President Khatami was aware of "how deeply" the hostage taking and holding, and anger towards its foremost public defender "affected both the American government and the American people."[11] Many academics and literary critiques have written and expressed their views on these memoirs.[12] Following this, "some ambassadors" in Tehran reportedly stated they would no "longer meet with her" and would "discourage official contract with her office."[13] However, in her published memoirs, Ebtekar insists she has had cordial and official contacts with European ambassadors, ministers and presidents.[14]

Post-vice-presidential environmental activism

Ebtekar was named one of the seven 2006 Champions of the Earth by the United Nations Environment Program as a prominent and "inspirational" environmental leader who has made an impact at policy level in a region of the world.[15][16] She was also named as one of 50 environmental leaders by the The Guardian newspaper in January 5, 2008 - the only Iranian or Muslim woman in the list."50 people who could save the planet". The Guardian. Saturday 5 January 2008 12.55 GMT. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

She co-founded the Center for Peace and Environment in 2005, a non-governmental organization devoted to the promotion of just and sustainable peace and the protection of the environment. Over 120 experts and academicians are currently members of the Center. [citation needed]

Post-vice-presidential political activity

Ebtekar ran for and was elected to the city council of Tehran for the term beginning in 2007, coming in 9th out of 21 candidates, just after Parvin Ahmadinejad, the sister of the current President of Iran.[17] She established and heads the Tehran City Council Environment Committee and currently runs 20 working groups on environmental issues.

Ebtekar has not ruled out standing for the Tenth Iranian presidency (election on June 12, 2009) now that the Islamic Republic's Guardian Council has indicated that there is no “legal restraint” against women doing so.[18]

Grapes of Shahrivar

Ebtekar published her memoirs of the 8 years she served as the first woman Vice President of Iran, on May 3, 2009.[2]/ Entitled the Grapes of Shahrivar and published by Etelleat Newspaper Publishing House, the memoirs refer to the events of the reforms period in Iran. The book launch ceremony was held in Baran Foundation the foundation established by President Khatami to disseminate the managerial experiences of the reform government.

Academic Career

She teaches immunology at the MSc and PhD levels, and has published several articles in major international journals [which?] on immunobiology. She is a member of several research board committees and is a reviewer for two international and four national immunology journals.[19]. After leaving her government position in 2005 Ebtekar has spoken as inaugural or keynote speaker at many international events.

Natural Peace, a collection of essays and speeches on the environment and sustainable development delivered from 1997-2005 by Ebtekar, was published in 2005 by the Iranian Department of Environment.[20]

Questions about plagiarism

On October 7, 2008, eTBLAST recognized an article published by Masoumeh Ebtekar in 2006 at the Iran Journal of Allergy Asthma Immunol as an 85% duplication of several previously published articles.[21] eTBLAST is a text similarity search engine on MEDLINE database sponsored by the Innovation Laboratory at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School to study the scientific publication ethics. This allegation received a level of political and public attention in Iran[22] and resulted in Ebtekar's response in her personal weblog accepting the mistake, apologizing for it, but criticizing eTBLAST on several notes including not informing her of their finding in advance and not letting her publish her response in the same page where the allegation is made. Also Dr. Ebtekar made the point that the article was a review article she was invited to write for the Journal and that more than 76 references were given in the text.[23]

On October 23, 2008, Vol 455 Nature magazine covered this case in a short story titled "Iranian paper sparks sense of Deja Vu". In an interiew with Ian Mudway, a toxicologist at the King's College London and one of the authors of original papers referred to by Ebtekar, he said: "The article is a veritable patchwork of other people's work, word for word, grammatical error for grammatical error." It reported that Ebtekar has not answered emails from Nature.[24] Ebtekar apologized for her plagiarism again at a public gathering about the US embassy hostage crisis held in Shiraz University saying: "I apologize, humans are not prudent from mistakes." [25] Dr. Ebtekar denied rajanews allegations in her official weblog. Rajanews is a progovernment news agency known for smearing campaigns against reformists and opposition groups.

Sources

  1. ^ dead link[dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "A Brief History of Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania". Archives.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  3. ^ Sciolino, Elaine, Persian Mirrors : the Elusive Face of Iran, Free Press, (2005), p.116
  4. ^ Bowden, Mark, Guests of the Ayatollah, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006, p.161
  5. ^ Sciolino, Persian Mirrors, (2005), p.116-118
  6. ^ (ISBN 0-88922-443-9), published in 2000 by Talonbooks. The Persian translation of this book was published in Tehran by Etellaat Newspaper Publications the same year and the Arabic translation was published in Beirut by Al Hadi Publications.
  7. ^ Bowden, Mark, Guests of the Ayatollah , Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006, p.162-3
  8. ^ "Top Woman in Iran's Government Once Spoke for Hostage-Takers", New York Times, January 28, 1998, p.A6
  9. ^ Sciolino, Persian Mirrors (2005), p.116-118
  10. ^ Sciolino, Persian Mirrors (2005), p.116
  11. ^ "Top Woman in Iran's Government Once Spoke for Hostage-Takers," New York Times, January 28, 1998, p.A6
  12. ^ [dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2419961 -]
  13. ^ "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?", New York Times, Feb. 1, 1998
  14. ^ [1]
  15. ^ Seven environmental heroes to be honoured by UN agency
  16. ^ BaniComm Co. "Iranian Students News Agency (in Persian)". Isna.ir. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  17. ^ Final result of Tehran City Council election, December 21, 2006[dead link‍]
  18. ^ Ebtekar does not rule out presidential candidacy. tehran times, April 14, 2009
  19. ^ [www.modares.ac.ir university website]
  20. ^ These speeches include titles such as Human Rights and Challenges of the Century, Perspectives on Sustainable Development and the Role of the Woman in Iranian Society, etc. She also had two articles from Natural Peace published in Our Planet, the Magazine of the United Nations Environment Program (in 2005), and Market Messengers (in 2006). www.unep.org
  21. ^ "Entry 9866 information | Deja vu > Browse". Spore.swmed.edu. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  22. ^ "Alef.ir". Alef.ir. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  23. ^ "ابتكار سبز >> بازگشت از بارسلون و پاسخ به یک ادعا". Greenebtekar.persianblog.ir. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  24. ^ http://alef.ir/images/stories/you_alefusers_onnature.jpg
  25. ^ "ابتكار: از بابت جعل مقاله عذر مي خواهم". Rajanews.com. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
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