Banned from becoming president and with just a dozen MPs, women have started making inroads in the male-dominated world of Iranian politics by boosting their numbers on local councils.

Ashdari is one of four women who will sit in the new nine-member council in Qazvin after the December 15 elections, where women represented just one-sixth of the 180 candidates in the city.

While Iranian women have yet to make a major breakthrough on a national stage, their success in the municipal polls was startling -- out of 264 seats available on councils in provincial capitals, 44 went to women.

Since the Islamic revolution, no woman has served as a minister in an Iranian cabinet.

Reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who swept to power with the help of female votes, started a new trend by naming two women to serve as vice presidents for the environment and women's affairs.

Hardline successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has kept up his predecessor's tradition by filling the same portfolios with women, but all ministries are still headed by men.