Iran's Zahra Rahnavard Takes #3 Position in Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers List

The prestigious Foreign Policy Journal has released its first annual list of the 100 Top Global Thinkers.

In position #3 behind #1 Ben Bernanke, Chairman of America’s Federal Reserve and #2 US President Barack Obama is Zahra Rahnavard “for being the brains behind Iran’s Green Revolution and the campaign of her husband, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.”

I can personally attest to Zahra Rahnavard’s popularity here at Anne of Carversville.

My brief introduction to this inspiring women during the Iranian elections makes her a consistent Top 10 read on A of C. I’ve intended to research Ms. Rahnavard more extensively, and this Foreign Policy honor is now my stimulus.

I don’t believe that Zahra Rahnavard and her followers would have liked me very much, when the tyrannical Shah camped out in America. I regret that a female bonanza of deserved human rights didn’t come to the women of Iran after their revolution.

While American women perhaps enjoy many freedoms and privileges not available to Iranian women, we are far behind European women in achieving our own rights as females. We, too, have problems with the conservative patriarchy and religious view of what makes a proper American woman in 2009.

Watching “the greens” in Iran, with so many women (and men) inspired by Zahra Ragnavard, I’m hopeful that while respecting each others national interests and cultural mores, we can acknowledge a womanly human glue that binds us as leaders and activists.

Congratulations Zahra Rahnavard. We celebrate your position at the front of this new list of global influencers.

Introducing Ms. Rahnavard to readers, Foreign Policy writes: Of all the critical moments in the Iranian presidential election that captured the world’s attention this year, one stands out: On June 3, incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly questioned the credentials of his opponent’s wife, wondering in a televised debate if her Ph.D. in political science was legitimate. Furious, the 64-year-old Rahnavard staged a blazing, 90-minute news conference in which she accused the president of lying, debasing her sex, and betraying the Islamic Revolution. The attack galvanized the opposition and rejuvenated the campaign of her husband, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

We honor Zahra Rahnavard for her courage and articulate defiance of a regime that she believes oppresses her and other Iranian citizens. Anne

In the Streets of Iran, Zahra Rahnavard Leads the Greens but We Also Hear From a Red