Masoumeh Ebtekar

Masoumeh Ebtekar (Persian: معصومه ابتکار‎‎; born Niloufar Ebtekar; 21 September 1960) is current Vice President of Iran and head of Environmental Protection Organization, being appointed on 10 September 2013. She has previously held the same office from 2 August 1997 to 3 August 2005, making her the first female Vice President of Iran.

Ebtekar first achieved fame as "Mary", the spokesperson of the students who took hostages and occupied the US Embassy in 1979. Later she became the head of the Environment Protection Organization of Iran during the administration of President Mohammad Khatami, and was a city councilwoman of Tehran from 2007 to 2013.

Education and family

Ebtekar was born in Tehran as Niloufar Ebtekar in a middle-class family. Her first name translates to "Innocent Water Lily" in English. Ebtekar's father studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and she lived with her parents in Upper Darby of Philadelphia. During her six years in Philadelphia, she developed "near-perfect, American-accented English." Returning to Iran she enrolled in Iranzamin (Tehran International School). Later after graduation as a student, she became a supporter of the political Islam of Ali Shariati and began wearing a traditional black chador covering everything except her face.

Ebtekar (newspaper)

Ebtekar is a Persian-language newspaper published in Tehran, Iran.

History and profile

Mohammad Ali Vakili is the licence holder and managing director of Ebtekar which is based in Tehran. The paper has a reformist stance and focuses on political, cultural, social and economic news.

Ebtekar was banned by the media court in April 2014 for "spreading lies" about removal of the prisons' chief, Gholam Hossein Ismaili, due to his violent acts against political prisoners. It was the third reformist paper closed down following the presidency of Hasan Rouhani in August 2013. The paper was relaunched four days after its closure on 30 April 2014.

See also

References