A female politician who was legitimately elected "first alternate member" of the city council in Qazvin, Iran, was denied her right to sit among the other representatives because she was deemed "too sexy" by the conservative election review board.

Nina Siakhali Moradi, 27, ran on a platform of "Young Ideas for a Young Future," and managed to garner just under 10,000 votes, earning her the title of first reserve among council members.

When a ranking member was selected to take on the duties of mayor, Moradi was bumped up to full-fledged council member per election rules.

But officials promptly nullified her votes and disqualified her, allegedly over her attractive physical appearance.

"We don’t want a catwalk model on the council," one official was quoted as saying.

Speaking to the local press, Moradi pushed back against the decision, saying she earned her seat through the people's vote.

But a coalition of opponents claimed Moradi was in violation of "Islamic norms" by running a campaign that relied heavily on posters touting her good looks.

A local legal expert suggested that, regardless of the reason for Moradi's disqualification, the move was unquestionably illegal.

"It is illegal for the election review board to disqualify someone who had initially been qualified to run and then later won the election," said Mohammed Olaiyehfard. "It seems that this is a pretext in order to create an obstacle in order for this individual to not be able to join the Qazvin City Council."

New York Magazine's The Cut offers a valuable reminder that the United States is in no position to pass judgement on Iran for its transgressions against women:

Before we go all Femen on this one, let’s remember that a U.S. state supreme court recently agreed, ruling that finding a young woman distractingly attractive is a perfectly legal reason to fire her.

[images via Twitter]