A well-known figure on Embassy Row, Rahmani, 44, served from December 2018 until July 2021 as the first female ambassador ever to represent Afghanistan in the United States.
“Afghan women wish they had unanimous public support, as well as support from their male counterparts,” she has said. “In Iran, even with all its difficulties, there’s still some system of checks and balances. It’s probably harder for the Iranians to punish and torture their women than it is in Afghanistan, where women protesting are out there alone. Anything can happen to them.”
Notably, Rahmani no longer wears her headscarf as she did while serving as ambassador. It’s a deliberate act of defiance, she says, “in solidarity with all my sisters (in Iran) who are forced not only to wear it, but also told what colors they may wear. It’s a choice, and my choice is very important because it’s the basis of democracy—and my hair is not part of the equation.”
