LAT: Crowds go wild for Zahra Rahnavard:

But Rahnavard has been highly visible, especially after Ahmadinejad dragged her into the middle of the campaign by holding up what appeared to be an intelligence file about her during a debate with Mousavi and accusing her of skirting government rules in obtaining her degrees.

Rahnavard appeared to relish publicly defending herself, demanding that the president apologize.

"Either [Ahmadinejad] cannot tolerate highly educated women or he's discouraging women from playing an active role in society," she told reporters.

Last month in the newspaper Etemad, Behrouz Samadbeigi wrote: "In the past, none of the wives of the presidential candidates had taken part in the election campaigns of their husbands. It sends out the message that this candidate is a multifaceted human being and tries to plan his professional and private relations in a normal way, without going to excesses."

Some in the Iranian and Western news media have likened Rahnavard to Michelle Obama, but she more closely resembles Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady and New York senator whom many considered a driving force behind her husband's political career and presidency.

In addition to helping raise three children, Rahnavard once served as an advisor to former President Mohammad Khatami, has written at least 15 books and is an accomplished sculptor whose works appear throughout the capital. For years, Mousavi, who served in the now-defunct post of prime minister during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, was described as "the husband of Rahnavard."

On the campaign trail, she makes up for her 67-year-old husband's lack of charisma.

"Today we can close our eyes and see ourselves," she tells the Tehran audience, wearing a black cloak over a pink traditional gown, her voice rising. "Never have women had so much self-awareness. Women have always been just under the skin of history. Today, we assert ourselves."

By making Rahnavard so visible, Mousavi's campaign is sending a message to women frustrated by the Ahmadinejad era's atmosphere of conservatism, renewed restrictions on women's rights and tightening of Islamic rules in public life.

Other candidates have followed suit. Reformer Mehdi Karroubi's highly visible wife is all but running his Tehran campaign. Another candidate, conservative Mohsen Rezai, has promised to appoint Iran's first female foreign minister.

Posted by Laura at June 10, 2009 11:15 AM