Before the Iranian Revolution in 1979, only a woman served in a similar capacity.

[1] Shahla Habibi was appointed as the head of newly-established 'Office of Women's Affairs'[2] and advisor in 1991.

[3] Her deputy Masoumeh Ebtekar, was reportedly the "main driving-force" behind the office.

[2] The office was renamed to the 'Centre for Women's Participation Affairs' under administration Mohammad Khatami and remained an advisor position, with Zahra Shojaei was appointed as its head.

[2] Nasrin Soltankhah, Zohreh Tabibzadeh-Nouri and Maryam Mojtahedzadeh served in the capacity of heading the office until 2013, when the officeholder was promoted to a Vice President.