On September 30, 2023, Iran hosted 100 female journalists from about 40 countries as guests of the first International Khorshid Media Festival. It was held in the eastern city of Mashhad and sponsored by the local municipality as well as Iran’s Ministry of Culture and the bureau of Iranian president’s deputy for women and family affairs.

The festival claimed its aim was to show “the real Iran” and the real status of Iranian women to counter negative stories following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini a year ago. Yet the trip was so rigidly stage-managed that the women barely got a glimpse of anything other than hotels and airports. One attendee who asked to remain anonymous told this writer, “They picked us up at the airport in Tehran, took us to a hotel, then took us to an airport and we flew to Mashhad. Then, every Iranian journalist there asked us the very same question of ‘Has your view towards Iran changed after this trip?’ to which I responded the very same answer, saying, ‘You cannot expect us to change our view by seeing airports and hotels. I have previously traveled to Iran and know the country and my view has not changed.’”

Instead of being allowed to act like normal tourists, the journalists, mostly from countries Iran is courting in Latin America, Africa, and Eurasia, were shown video clips on Iran’s progress and women’s roles and were obliged to listen to boring speeches and participate in equally tedious panel discussions.

It is not every day that Iran hosts such a large delegation of foreign journalists, let alone female ones. But the organizers managed to let the opportunity to make a good impression slip from their fingers by keeping people who make their living through keen observation, isolated.

The idea for the festival is said to have come from Jamileh Alam-ol-Hoda, the wife of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Alam-ol-Hoda was an obscure figure for most Iranians until her husband decided to run in the 2017 presidential elections. Raisi lost then, to Hassan Rouhani, but won in 2021 in an election with record low participation. Alam-ol-Hoda accompanied Raisi to New York this year during the annual United Nations General Assembly, giving interviews to ABC News and Newsweek, an unprecedented step for the wife of an Iranian president.

During her interview with Newsweek, she made some controversial comments, including her personal take on what men and women prefer in Iran.

“Men in Iran prefer not to ask their spouses to work or bring money home. Women are regarded as persons sharing love with men in the position of mother, spouse, or daughter,” Alam-ol-Hoda told Newsweek’s Tom O’Connor.

The remark drew harsh criticism from both Iranian men and women on social media, who asked her not to comment on behalf of men and not to generalize her views. President Raisi on October 2 attempted to clarify his wife’s remarks during his meeting with the female journalists attending the Khorshid International Festival, saying, “The Islamic Republic rejects the Western view of women as a tool and opposes women staying at home. A woman, alongside a man, can be an effective source in society. A woman plays an essential role in the family and is effective in society.”

Alam-ol-Hoda was also criticized for her remarks at the Khorshid Festival on September 30, during which she said, “I have noticed that I’m being referred to as Iran’s First Lady. I’m not the First Lady. If anyone is the First Lady, it is the wife of the Supreme Leader” who outranks the president in Iran’s political system. The comments sparked anger even among hardliners in Iran, who criticized Alam-ol-Hoda, saying that “First Lady” is a Western title that does not have a place in the Islamic Revolution’s doctrine, as the Islamic Republic is not a “Western democracy.”

Alam-ol-Hoda’s new prominence is itself a reflection of how much Iran has changed since the 1979 revolution toward a bigger public role for women in society — even if she did not see the irony of her remarks. If only she had allowed the visiting journalists to see more ordinary Iranians, that reality would have been clear.

Saeed Azimi is a political journalist based in Tehran. Find him on Twitter at @saeedazimi1772.