WASHINGTON – The United Nations voted Wednesday to boot Iran from a women’s commission due to months of bloody crackdowns on protests after a woman died in custody following her arrest by the country’s so-called “morality police” for violating mandatory dress code laws.
The US had pushed for Iran’s removal from the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women because of the country’s hardline policies restricting the rights of women and girls, drafting the resolution to kick out the country “for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.”
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday the White House was pleased with the commission’s decision, noting that Iranian police continue to crack down on the country’s protesters with brutal tactics women.
“Obviously we welcome this,” he said. “We think it’s important, particularly given the way Iran continues to treat peaceful protesters in their country, most especially women who started this protest in the first place.”
As of Sunday, 488 Iranians – including 68 children – had been reported killed in the protests since the demonstrations erupted in mid-September over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman who died after being detained for “improperly” wearing her hijab.
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On Monday, Iran executed its second protester in less than a week, hanging Majidreza Rahnavard weeks after he was accused of fatally stabbing two members of a paramilitary force after becoming angry about security forces killing protesters.
Before the vote, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tehran must be removed because its continued membership would place an “ugly stain on the commission’s credibility.”
Of the 45 members on the commission, 29 voted to oust Iran, 16 abstained and eight voted against the resolution, which Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani claimed was illegal.
Iran and 17 other nations in a letter Monday argued that its removal would “undoubtedly create an unwelcome precedent that will ultimately prevent other Member States with different cultures, customs and traditions … from contributing to the activities of such Commissions.”
The group meets annually each March to discuss the progression of women’s rights across the world. Iran was elected to the commission last year to serve a four-year term.
