Vice Presidency for Women and Family Affairs

Before the Iranian Revolution in 1979, only a woman served in a similar capacity. Mahnaz Afkhami assumed office as the government minister responsible for women's affairs under administration of Prime Minister Amir-Abbas Hoveyda.^[1]

Shahla Habibi was appointed as the head of newly-established 'Office of Women's Affairs'^[2] and advisor in 1991.^[3] Her deputy Masoumeh Ebtekar, was reportedly the "main driving-force" behind the office.^[2] The office was renamed to the 'Centre for Women's Participation Affairs' under administration Mohammad Khatami and remained an advisor position, with Zahra Shojaei was appointed as its head.^[2] Under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the office was renamed to the 'Center for Women and Family Affairs' in 2005, a change that signaled the conservative attitude towards the women.^[2] Nasrin Soltankhah, Zohreh Tabibzadeh-Nouri and Maryam Mojtahedzadeh served in the capacity of heading the office until 2013, when the officeholder was promoted to a Vice President.^[4]