Iran was expelled on Wednesday from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the world body that promotes women’s rights, in a vote at the UN Economic and Social Council of 29 to 8, with 16 abstentions. Those who opposed the action included Russia and China.
The vote came after the United States called for Iran’s ouster over the mullahs’ “systematic oppression” of women and violent crackdown on street protests against the death of Mahsa Amini.
The resolution proposed last month by the US means the immediate termination of Iran from the commission for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term. It expresses “serious concern” over Iran’s actions since September “to continuously undermine and increasingly suppress the human rights of women and girls, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, often with the use of excessive force…as well as through the use of lethal force resulting in the deaths of peaceful protestors, including women and girls.”
In response, Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saeid Iravani slammed the vote and accused the United States of bullying.
“It is not at all unexpected that the United States is taking such unlawful action against Iran given its longstanding hostility towards the Iranian people, but if carried out, it would be exceedingly dangerous to the UN system integrity,” Iravani said.
Speaking at a special meeting in the UN’s Economic and Social Council that preceded the vote, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan compared the Ayatollah regime in Iran to that of the Nazis.
“This resolution must receive the support of all of us, and whoever doesn’t support it is complicit in the oppression and murder of women…The regime in Iran represents the embodiment of evil, just as Hitler’s Nazi regime represented the embodiment of evil,” he said.
Erdan added that as the international community “refused to take action” against the suffering of the Iranian people, “the Iranian people decided to take their futures into their own hands.”
Israelis salute the bravery of the protesters, he said, adding, “We view ourselves as true allies of the Iranian people. Yet what have we, the family of nations, done to support their cause? Where is our courage? Have we taken swift and severe action? Have we all made it clear that if the regime continues to execute protesters the international community will act against it? No, no, and no. It’s truly a disgrace.”
The Israeli ambassador said he “truly” hopes the vote is “merely the international community’s first move towards the liberation of the Iranian people.”
