Female Iranian Councillor 'Disqualified For Being Too Attractive'

Nina Siahkali Moradi

An Iranian woman has been barred from office – apparently because religious conservatives deemed her “too attractive”.

Nina Siahkali Moradi took more than 100,000 votes in Qazvin city’s council elections, finishing 14th out of 163 candidates and winning a seat, The Times reports.

But despite her victory, it seems the 27-year-old was effectively disqualified because she was regarded too good-looking to take up the post.


“We don’t want a catwalk model on the council,” one senior official in Qazvin is quoted as saying.

Moradi, who studies architecture, calligraphy and martial arts at Qazvin’s Azad University, was told shortly after her election as an alternate member of the Council, that she had been disqualified.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran writes on its Facebook page: “According to reports, the reason for her disqualification has been stated as ‘non-observance of Islamic codes’. It is said that her election campaign posters are the basis of her disqualification’.”