Tehran, Aug. 23: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision to nominate three women as Iran’s first female cabinet members since the 1979 Islamic revolution faced stiff criticism yesterday from clerics and lawmakers, as well as from women’s rights activists.

Several prominent clerics said the move was counter to Islamic beliefs and urged the parliament to reject the nominations.

“If a woman becomes minister, then she must constantly stay in contact with men and deputies, so she could not carry out her religious duties to the full,” Ayatollah Yousef Tabatabaeinejad said during Friday prayers, according to the Khabaronline website. “We expect that the parliamentarians should keep their wits and prevent this heresy.”

Women’s rights activists said they doubted the nominees would work to give Iranian women the same rights as men.

“These women are just like him, only female,” said activist Parvin Ardalan, referring to Ahmadinejad. “This is just an act to gain legitimacy among women.”

“The damage that such women can do to women’s rights issues is much more than any man can inflict,” said Nargess Mohammadi, the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre, which is led by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi.

“These female candidates have a traditional mindset. They will increase bias against women, since they believe the role of women is limited to families,” Mohammadi added.

Iranian laws apply differently to women and men in such areas as divorce, child custody, inheritance and in court, where two female witnesses are counted as one witness.

Ahmadinejad introduced 21 candidates this week for his cabinet, including former generals, old hands and unknown figures.

He has defended picking three women: Marzieh Vahid Dastgerdi, 50, a gynecologist, for health minister; Fatemeh Ajorlu, 43, a lawmaker, for minister of welfare and social security; and Susan Keshavars, 44, a high-ranking employee of the education ministry, for that ministry.