Pleas tell us a little bit about your background and in what level is women’s karate in Iran?

I have worked in athletic education for about 31 years. For the past 8 years I’ve been the head of Iran women’s karate associated and the deputy manager of Karate federation in women’s affairs. Women’s national Karate team has a high potential in becoming one of the best women’s karate team in the world. The only thing is to be able to attend the international games both in Asia and the world, so we can evaluate ourselves. We won medals in Morocco and it is good but not enough. We need to get the World Karate Federation’s (WKF) approval for our Islamic athletic outfits in order to play in official games.

What is the WKF’s problem with the Islamic outfit?

WKF doesn’t allow the headscarf to be part of the outfit and that is a problem for any Muslim woman in Karate. We have had many talked with them and we hope to satisfy their rules and regulations before 2009. We have offered to wear Bonnets (cap) instead of veil scarves. If they accept it we will be able to attend in official games. The world karate federation is against the headscarves because of a karate’s rule: in karate if the feet hits the head sometimes it is a point and sometimes it is a fault and the scarf would make it really hard for the referee to recognize the difference.

What are the plans for Iran women’s national karate team?

we will attend 5 camps before the Morocco games. The first one was supposed to be last week but it was canceled due to snowy weather. We will try to perform even better than last year. The team will go to Morocco a day before the game in the middle of on March 16th 2008. It is the Mohammad VI Cup.

What will be the format of the team? How much do we know our opponents?

We will attend as a complete team both in Kata and in committee. We almost know their style. They are mostly from the countries that won medals in the world championships.

Where does Iran women’s Karate stand in Asia?

Based on our records we are among the bests of Asia. We attend the competitions world wide and in all branches of martial arts. But In Karate it is harder to say exactly where we are since our official games are few. If they allow us to play I am sure we’ll stand in a high place in Asia even in the first year.