Women's car with electronic parking aids unveiled in Iran

The car will be painted in soft "feminine" colours and include interior design features aimed specifically at women.

Alarms will be fitted to warn of flat tyres and there will be an automatic gear box, a navigation system and audiovisual entertainment systems for child passengers.

The car, part of the Samand range, comes in response to the growing number of female drivers in Iran.

According to manufactures Iran Khodro, it has been designed following consultation with female car owners and will be made to order when it is launched in conjunction with national womens' day next June.

Vahid Najafi, managing director of Iran Khodro's order unit, said he was expecting the car to prove popular. Previous vehicles have been exported to Iran's allies such as Syria and Venuzuela, but the womens' car will initially be aimed at the domestic market.

"Women's necessities are different from men's," he said. "For example, a woman goes shopping, takes children to school - so this car is going to have some visual distinctions that will separate it from other cars. It will be more beautiful. Cheerful and attractive colours will be used - for example red. A series of decoration pieces will be added to the interior, on the dashboard for example. What's important for women is that the car should be comfortable and handle well."

Iran's hardline Islamic government encourages gender separation, and last year backed a proposal to create a womens' bicycle which covered the rider's legs and upper body. A women-only taxi service, with female drivers, has been launched in the country's main cities and buses and underground trains are segregated.

Although there are more women in parliament in Iran than in the UK, they still have to seek permission from their husbands to work outside the home or travel abroad, are subjected to spot checks by patrols, lose custody of their children in divorce cases and have half the inheritance rights of males.

According to Amnesty International, women are still stoned to death for adultery even though the practice is officially outlawed, and a girl who has been raped can be murdered with impunity by her father or another male relation seeking to cleanse the stain on the family name.