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By James M. Dorsey, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer

Iranian women cheering for the national volleyball team (Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran)

A British-Iranian woman imprisoned In Tehran for attempting to watch a mens volleyball match is at the centre of Irans cultural wars that constitute the backdrop to efforts to resolve problems with Irans nuclear program and a struggle between reformists and conservatives in advance of parliamentary elections 18 months from now.

The arrest In June of 25-year old Ghoncheh Ghavami together with more than a dozen other women as they tried to enter a stadium where the Iranian national mens team was playing Italy was first disclosed earlier this month by The Guardian. Ms. Ghavamis attempt to enter Tehrans Azadi stadium was part of a protest staged by dozens of women against the fact that Brazilian women had earlier been allowed to attend a volleyball match between their countrys national team and Iran.

Ironically, volleyball, the setting for the latest phase in the battle for Iranian womens sporting rights, is also a 21stcenturys US-Iranian equivalent of Chinese-American table tennis diplomacy in the 1970s that opened the door to the establishment of diplomatic relations. We see (volleyball) as an incredible opportunity to promote goodwill and understanding between the Iranian and American people, State Department communications adviser on Iran Greg Sullivan told Al-Monitor as Irans national team played a series of friendlies in the United States. In contrast to Iran, Iranian-American women had no problem attending the friendlies.

cartoon by Mana Neyestani, Tavana

The volleyball protest followed widespread rejection by coffee shop owners and female soccer fans in Iran of restrictions on women watching publicly screened soccer matches during the recent World Cup in Brazil. They openly flaunted with no government response orders by authorities to keep television sets off during World Cup matches. The orders were intended to prevent men and women from publicly watching matches together.

Soccer features also in street art battles that are a key venue in Irans culture wars. A recent mural on one of Tehrans main thoroughfares pictured a woman wearing a national soccer team jersey as she washed dishes at home. The mural went viral on social media. In the mural, the woman raises a cup of yellowish dishwash solution as if it were the World Cup trophy in what was seen as a rejection of conservative notions that a womans place is at home.

At stake in the battle is however far more than just womens sports rights. Those rights are part of a larger struggle for Irans future as Iranian negotiators meet in New York this month with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council to reach agreement on resolving the Iranian nuclear problem before November 24 deadline. Iranian conservatives fear that a successful negotiation would strengthen the hand of supporters of reformist president Hassan Rohani in parliamentary elections scheduled for the spring of 2016.

With popular support for the nuclear talks, conservatives hope to thwart Mr. Rouhani by appealing to traditional values in their effort to undercut his efforts to reduce repression and allow for greater freedom of expression and access to information, promote gender equality, and ease cultural and educational restrictions. Mr. Rouhani like other members of his Cabinet regularly posts messages on Facebook and Twitter despite the fact that access to social media sites is frequently blocked in Iran. The president has also argued publicly that freedom is a precondition for creativity and has contradicted conservative efforts to curb fun.

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Women's right to attend sports events at centre of Iran's culture wars