The hardliners who won Iran's parliamentary elections last February have focused on women's rights in their efforts to reverse some of the reforms carried out under moderate President Mohammad Khatami. After the legislative session began in June, the 290-member Parliament, including all 12 of the women, abruptly rejected proposals to expand the inheritance right of Iranian women and to adopt the United Nations convention that bans discrimination against women. They also backed away from previous efforts to make gender equality a goal of the country's next four-year development plan. Instead, the new Parliament has called for placing more restrictions on women's attire and on their social freedoms.
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