When we were putting together this list, the only problem we encountered was how to reduce it to only 10 women!!! Iranian women are in our (hehehe quite unbiased) opinion simply the most beautiful women on earth, and not only because of their mysterious and exotic eyes, beautiful flowing hair, and curvy, sexy hips. What makes Iranian women sexy is their irrepressible feistiness, their zest for life drive to succeed at work, at home, and at school, face of the most brutal social repression.

For these reasons, we have chosen the following as the ten sexiest Iranian women on the planet.

DINEH MOHAJER

The founder of cosmetics empire Hard Candy (She is responsible for that pastel blue nail polish that set off the craze for unconventional nail colors in the 90s), Dineh Mohajer has shown that a corporate career woman is not all shoulder pads and power suits. She can also be a young, vibrant sexy woman, with an edgy fashion sense. At 25, she was already running a 10 million dollar business, with her products distributed in every department store from Neiman Marcus to Bloomingdale. And she is definitely candy on the eyes too. Business Week never had a sexier cover story!

ATOOSA

For such a staple of the Downtown Manhattan music scene, no last name is needed. Atoosa's words speak more volumes about her than any condensed biography. She adroitly mixes classically influenced piano melodies and raw acoustic guitar... The crowd of young men and women at her recent shows is evidence of her talent, energy, and disarming sensuality.

NIKI KARIMI

All we can say is: That face!… Those eyes!… There has never been a more photogenic actress in the history of Iranian cinema. No matter how much the government censors try to trap her sensuality behind the rigid constraints of a chador or hejab, it still jumps out at you from the screen, like a wild caged animal. Niki is not only the foremost Iranian actress of her generation, having worked with every legendary director from Dariush Mehrjouie to Masoud Kimiaii, she has stepped behind the camera as well, directing a documentary called "To be or not to be". All we want to be is with Niki Karimi!

This is a model on Bita Saviss's website (see her photo in the next issue)

BITA SAVISS

Another female entre-preneur from our neck of the woods, Bita Saviss is a one woman powerhouse. With her own L.A. based company, she has built a lingerie and swimwear empire and at the same time slayed any stereotypes of the demure traditional Iranian woman. Check out her distracting site at www.bitasaviss.com. All we can say is Wow!

THE WOMEN IN MONA SHOMALI’S PAINTINGS

Mona Shomali's paintings of nude Iranian females is meant to defy stereotypes of black shrouded women who are formless, shapeless and sexless. She has explained her art by stating that "Nudity to me is sheer vulnerability and liberation one can feel when naked. In their proud nudity, these women are doing very ordinary things as if the nudity is something they themselves do not notice." Mona's women are sexual beings, with desire and volition. Check out her artwork such as Outside our Bedroom (inspired by Rumi's poetry).

SHIVA ROSE

One golden Hollywood couple rivals Brad'n'Jen with their divine good looks and elegance: Dylan McDermott, star of ABC's The Practice, and his gorgeous Iranian wife Shiva Rose. But Shiva is much more than just another Hollywood wife. She wooed us with her performance of a proud, dignified Iranian woman fighting against discrimination on her husband's TV Show. She consistently makes best-dressed lists with her purely feminine, yet modern fashion sense. And she is also not afraid to fight for her opinion. In January 2003, she was arrested during an anti-war protest in Los Angeles. "I feel it is our right to dissent and speak out against hypocrisy," She stated at the demonstration. "As a mother of a child I want to ensure a world where peace prevails and not bloodshed for oil.”

PATRICE FARAMEH

She first made headlines for being Boris Becker's main squeeze after he split with his wife. But this statuesque ravishing brunette from Texas could not remain in anyone's shadow for long. After she left the love-struck tennis player, Patrice, who speaks 6 languages, negotiated her way into producing and starring in her own German TV Show! TrendScout TV takes Patrice to countless locations across Europe where she displays the fact that she is more than just a beauty.

SHOHRE AGHDASHLOU

Shohreh is first and foremost : The Voice. That breathy, raspy whisper, with the melodic, hypnotizing rhythms, her flawless delivery of the Persian language. When she speaks, her words are flowers that caress our hearts, our minds and our souls. Her cameo in the recent Iranian-American production America so Beautiful prompted one of the actors to describe her as "still" beautiful. All we would deduct is the word "still." Like Oscar Wilde's eternal beauty Dorian Gray, Shohreh is as fresh, beautiful, and glamorous today than she has ever been. Watch out for her in the new Dreamworks film The House of Sand and Fog.

SAMIRA MAKHMALBAF

Samira grew up in the studio sets of her father, legendary director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. So it was no surprise that at 20, she became the youngest director to have a film in the Cannes Film Festival's competition category with "Blackboard". It was the photos taken of her during that event that first introduced Samira's intellectual beauty to the West.
Samira's dark good looks are as striking as her films. Her kohl-rimmed eyes are intense and penetrating. No wonder she is always the toast of the town wherever she goes.

SARAH SHAHI

We started off with a young woman from our own neighborhood and we had to finish off the list in the same way. Sarah Shahi may have started her career as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader but lately, it is Los Angeles that she has made her home. This great-great-granddaughter of Fath Ali Shah Qajar first caught our eye when she rolled off perfect rrrrrrrs as she described her favorite dish of "Ash Reshteh" in the hugely popular TV show Alias, where she plays the recurring character of "Jenny." Then, as if that wasn't enough, she posed for the sexiest pictorial ever for the magazine Maxim, with just a strategically placed little teddy bear between her and the camera. Now Sarah has made the leap to film work: You can check her out in the recently released popular comedy Old School, with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn.