New Female Ambassador Sparks Controversy

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham will soon take on a challenging job: She is set to become Iranian ambassador to Malaysia. As a woman, this is a first for the Islamic Republic and in fact, only the second time in Iranian history. It is a nomination that has aroused a great deal of media attention in recent weeks.

Afkham, 50, is a veteran at the foreign ministry, having worked across different departments for nearly 30 years. According to one of her former colleagues, her appointment to the job was “inevitable” given that ministry protocols dictate that to become an ambassador a person needs to first have been a director-general at the ministry. Afkham held that same position at the ministry’s press office before becoming a spokesperson.

“At Iranian embassies, and especially those in Europe, women are mainly hired locally,” says Afkham’s former foreign ministry colleague. “Given the vast array of limitations that a female ambassador from Iran has to deal with, only Islamic countries are considered suitable to assigning women to foreign positions. However, many of these Islamic countries are in crises at the moment so there are only a few options left in East Asian countries, like Malaysia, which happens to have good relations with Iran.”

The foreign ministry employee adds, “This is especially true since the appointment of Marzieh Afkham as the first Iranian woman ambassador after the revolution must be seen within the framework of both public relations and the internal rivalries inside the foreign ministry over missions abroad."

From Tourism to Crime

However, Marzieh Afkham’s appointment will be a challenging one. In recent years, Malaysia has gone from being a tourist destination for Iranians to something far more problematic. This is down to how certain Iranians visiting the country have acted. In recent years, many Iranians in Malaysia have become embroiled in unlawful activities, such as drug smuggling, human trafficking and forgery. This has led to many Iranian nationals being imprisoned.

The majority of these Iranians in Malaysia are charged with drug smuggling. Under Malaysian law, a person can be sentenced to death if he or she is found to be carrying over 50 grams worth of illicit substances. Consequently, many Iranian drug smugglers are executed. Although exact figures are difficult to come by, the Iranian consul general to Malaysia reported that approximately 86 Iranian citizens, including six women, were on death row and that 221 Iranians, including 31 women, were in Malaysian jails as of April 2014. Although the Iranian embassy cannot invalidate the death sentences, it can and does provide legal counsel and lawyers to its nationals.

As spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, Afkham is fully aware of the issue. In June 2014 – when these arrests and death sentences were whipping up a media storm in Iran — Afkham reported that Iran and Malaysia were working on an agreement that would allow the Iranian embassy to give legal aid to Iranian citizens. If and when this agreement is reached, both the Iranian and Malaysian foreign ministers, as well as the Iranian parliament, will need to approve it. So far, neither of these things has happened.

Conversely, what has changed is the Malaysian government’s Iranian visa policy. Up to two years ago, Iranian citizens could stay in Malaysia for three months without a visa but this was reduced to just two weeks following the scale of Iranian drug smuggling in the country.

Prisoners in Malaysia, whether from Iran or elsewhere, suffer in deplorable prison conditions and the humid, tropical climate in the country only makes matters worse. According to former inmates, detainees are either kept in small metal chambers or in vastly overcrowded rooms with no access to health or washing facilities. Furthermore, cases often take over two years to go to trial.

A Money Laundering Haven

When sanctions hit Iran, Malaysia quickly became a haven for Iranian money laundering. One particularly memorable incident involved jailed Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani, which lucidly showed the scale of dodgy financial activities committed by Iranians in Malaysia.

Despite this morally questionable situation, Iranian diplomacy concerning the country has remained largely non-existent. For several years, Iran has gone without an ambassador to Kuala Lumpur and talk aimed at helping Iranian prisoners has remained just that: talk. The last Iranian ambassador to Malaysia was Mohammad-Mehdi Zahedi, who was Minister of Science and Technology during the first Ahmadinejad government. His appointment to that position was controversial, as he had lied about his academic credentials, and also because of the purge of qualified university professors during his tenure. To protect him from the ensuing political storm, Ahmadinejad appointed him as Iranian ambassador to Malaysia. He later resigned from the post to run in the 2012 parliamentary elections.

Choosing a woman as Iranian ambassador to Malaysia is both a big and positive step for the Islamic Republic. As an Islamic country, many Iranians are envious of Malaysia. At the same time, many Malaysian Sunnis are concerned about increasing Shia activities in their country. As ambassador, Afkham will need to deal with simple issues like student visas, as well as highly complex ones, such as those involving religious tensions. This time, talk alone will not suffice. There needs to be action too.

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