WASHINGTON – The United Nations voted Wednesday to expel Iran from its women’s commission over a bloody crackdown on protests in which a woman died in custody after she was arrested by the country’s “morality police” for violating Iran’s mandatory dress code laws.
The US has demanded that Iran be expelled from the UN Commission on the Status of Women due to its strict policies restricting the rights of women and girls, and has drafted a resolution to expel the country “for the remainder of the 2022-2026 period”.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that the White House was pleased with the commission’s decision, noting that Iranian police continue to use brutal tactics against women in the country’s crackdown on protesters.
“Of course we welcome it,” he said. “We think this is important, especially given how Iran treats peaceful protesters in their country, especially the women who started this protest in the first place.”
As of Sunday, 488 Iranians, including 68 children, were reported dead in protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurd who was “falsely” arrested in mid-September. . ” wearing a hijab.
Iran executed its second protester in less than a week on Monday, after Majidreza Rahnavard was hanged weeks after he was accused of stabbing two members of the paramilitary force to death after angering security forces at killing protesters.
Before the vote, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tehran should be removed because its permanent membership “undermines the credibility of the commission”.
Of the 45 members of the commission, 29 voted to remove Iran from power, 16 abstained and eight voted against, while Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, called the resolution illegal.
Iran and 17 other countries wrote in a letter on Monday that its removal would “undoubtedly set an unacceptable precedent that prevents other member states with different cultures, customs and traditions from contributing to the work of such commissions.”
The group meets every year in March to discuss the progress of women’s rights around the world. Iran was elected to the commission last year for a four-year term.
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