'Born to be a marriage counsellor': Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei's 2013 'feminist' tweet goes viral
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's decade-old tweets about relationships and women's roles spark social media reactions.
As tensions between Israel and Iran continue to escalate, old social media posts by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, have resurfaced, sparking curiosity and confusion. The tweets, posted by the Iranian leader over a decade ago, offer an unexpectedly personal glimpse into his daily life and thoughts on everyday topics.
The Islamic Republic cleric shared that he preferred reading books and was not a "cinema person" and also recalled a childhood story where he wore clerical robes to school to be "naughty and playful."
However, the posts that have caught everyone's attention were shared in 2013 and offered relationship advice to men. "You can't leave all the tasks to your wife and then criticise her. Even if she’s a scientist or a politician, within the family, she’s still a flower," the Supreme Leader wrote in September 2013.
Another tweet from the same year spoke of a husband's responsibility towards his wife. "Man has a responsibility to understand woman’s needs and feelings and must not be neglectful toward her emotional state,” Khamenei wrote.
Take a look at the post here:
Social media users were quick to mock the posts and jokingly labelled them as "feminist". Many cheekily called on Khamenei to quit as the Supreme Leader and become a full-time marriage counsellor.
"Iran already has truclear weapons," said one user.
"Part-time supreme leader, full-time marriage counsellor and book reviewer," said another, while a third added: "Born to be a marriage counsellor, forced to be an Ayatollah"
A fourth user joked, "Very supreme of the supreme leader to come out as a feminist."
Some of Khamenei's posts from recent tweets also gained attention. On a post where he is pictured watering a plant, the caption read: "Planting a tree is absolutely a religious, revolutionary act.”
One user sarcastically remarked: “Someone please take power away from him and fulfil his destiny of being a sorrowing Sufi poet.”
However, many users were quick to point out that the posts did not reflect the reality for women under Khamenei's rule in Iran. "Seeing all this progressive stuff about women, so how come his morality police killed that girl a few years ago?" one user asked, referring to the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly.
Additionally, a recent post by the Islamic cleric on same-sex marriage offered a glimpse into his stance on homosexuality.
"When same-sex marriage becomes legal in a country, will the family structure survive? See how men & women in the US & Europe today suffer due to the family foundation being weak, & this problem is growing more severe every day," he wrote in May this year.
Meanwhile, airstrikes between Iran and Israel continue to escalate. While Khamenei has vowed that Iran will never surrender, Israel has declared that a leader like Khamenei "cannot continue to exist."
