The first Iranian news agency run by women has been launched with an editorial focus on improving women's rights in the Islamic republic, the agency's managing director said Saturday. According to Sadigheh Ghanadi, the Iranian Women's News Agency (IWNA) intends to cover all news events but will also "raise cases of social harm against women".
Ghanadi told AFP the agency, based in the north-eastern Iranian city of Mashhad, currently employs 40 staff - the majority of whom are female - and had been set up under an initiative by women members of Iranian city councils, most of whom are conservative politicians.
She said the agency is also backed by female members of Iran's hard-line-controlled parliament.
IWNA's Internet-based service will provide a more conservative flavour to women-oriented media, including the reformist-leaning Women In Iran website and Zanan ("Women") magazine.
Recent years have also seen a growth of news agencies that have eroded the de facto monopoly once enjoyed by the state news agency IRNA, the most prominent being the student news agency ISNA, Mehr, Fars and the labour agency ILNA.