As the referee’s whistle signalled the start of the match, two five-year-old Iranian girls faced off, delivering a closely watched karate bout to a captivated audience — a sign of the changing attitude toward martial arts in the Islamic Republic in recent years.The two young opponents, clad in crisp white karategi with coloured belts and protective headgear, circled each other on the tatami, the floor covering used for practising Japanese martial arts.Their movements were sharp and deliberate, each kick and block executed with precision and control to the cheers of an all-female audience. At the final whistle, three minutes later, the two opponents shook hands and embraced.The match was part of an annual regional tournament that saw 230 participants of all ages gathered in Tehran, lining up in formation before the competition began. That AFP was accorded rare access to film and photograph a competition for women and girls was itself a sign of greater official openness.”This sport is anything but violent” because it “promotes discipline”, said Samaneh Parsa, a 44-year-old mother who has been practising karate for five years with her daughter Helma and son Ilya.”I have observed its positive influence on children’s behaviour,” she said at a club in southern Tehran, where AFP was granted a rare access to the prelude to the match. For her, karate is a way to “release emotions” and “bring serenity during stressful times”, even though it was long frowned upon for women to practise the sport in Iran.All martial arts were temporarily banned for women after the 1979 Islamic Revolution but were later reinstated under stricter dress code regulations.- ‘Strong mindset’ -As more women turn to karate, the sport has become a symbol of Iran’s changing society, where a young, urban generation is quietly challenging traditional gender roles and societal norms.Last week, Iranian athlete Atousa Golshadnezhad won another gold medal at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Saudi Arabia.Women in Iran have, in recent years, been pushing social boundaries more broadly — defying the Islamic Republic’s strict rules, including the mandatory dress code.The trend has been particularly evident since the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, who had been arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating the dress code.Afshin Torkpour, head of Kyokushin-Ryu karate in Iran, has similarly noted a shift in recent years, with women turning to sports that “were once considered violent”.Women practising the sport are now as, and often more motivated, said Torkpour, noting that they develop “a strong mindset”.Around 150,000 people practise karate in Iran across all genders, says Torkpour, who estimates that the actual figure could be much higher, up to two million.At the Asian Championships, the national junior women’s under-21 team won 11 medals, including six golds.In 2020, two Iranian karatekas participated in the Tokyo Olympics in Japan but did not win any medals.For Azam Ahmadi, a woman in her 30s who has practised the sport since she was 12, karate teaches essential life skills: “If you fall, you have to get back up, keep going, and never give up.”Mina Mahadi, vice-head of the women’s Kyokushin-Ryu karate section in Iran, says it also allows girls to “gain confidence” instead of them “saying yes to anything”.

The UN Security Council is set to vote Monday on a US-drafted resolution bolstering Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan, especially the deployment of an international force, as Washington warns that a failure to act could lead to renewed fighting.The draft, which has been revised several times as a result of high-stakes negotiations, “endorses” the plan, which allowed for a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to take hold on October 10 in the war-wracked Palestinian territory.The Gaza Strip has been largely reduced to rubble after two years of fighting, sparked by Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.The latest version of the text, seen by AFP, authorizes the creation of an International Stabilization Force (ISF) that would work with Israel and Egypt and newly trained Palestinian police to help secure border areas and demilitarize the Gaza Strip.The ISF also would work on the “permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups,” protecting civilians and securing humanitarian aid corridors.In addition, it would authorize the formation of a “Board of Peace,” a transitional governing body for Gaza — which Trump would theoretically chair — with a mandate running until the end of 2027.Unlike previous drafts, the latest version mentions a possible future Palestinian state.Once the Palestinian Authority has carried out requested reforms and the rebuilding of Gaza is underway, “the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” the draft says.That eventuality has been firmly rejected by Israel.”Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.The UN Security Council vote is set for 5:00 pm (2200 GMT) Monday.- Russian objections -Veto-wielding Russia has circulated a competing draft, saying the US document does not go far enough towards backing the creation of a Palestinian state.Moscow’s text, seen by AFP, asks the Council to express its “unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-state solution.”It does not authorize a Board of Peace or the deployment of an international force for the time being, instead asking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to offer “options” on those issues.The United States has intensified its campaign to earn support for its resolution, hitting out at “attempts to sow discord” among Council members.”Any refusal to back this resolution is a vote either for the continued reign of Hamas terrorists or for the return to war with Israel, condemning the region and its people to perpetual conflict,” the US ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, wrote in The Washington Post.The US has made known that it has the backing of several Arab and Muslim-majority nations, publishing a joint statement of support for the text signed by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey.Several diplomats told AFP that despite Russian criticism and hesitance on the part of other member states, they expect the US draft to be adopted.”The Russians know that while a lot of Council members will go along with the US plans, they share concerns about the substance of the US text and the way Washington has tried to fast-track it through New York,” Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group told AFP. He however said he doubts that Moscow will use its veto on a resolution backed by Arab nations.”I think it is more likely that China and Russia will abstain, register their skepticism about the plan and then sit back and watch the US struggle to put it into action,” Gowan said.