With 29 votes in favor, 8 against and 16 abstentions, the UN Commission on the Status of Women finally removed the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The proposal for Iran’s removal, which was promoted by the United States, was approved by the majority of the member states. However, countries such as Russia, China, Nicaragua and Belarus expressed their opposition to the political decision.
Other Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama and Peru also voted in favor, while Mexico abstained.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Commission before the vote that withdrawing Iran was the right thing to do, while Iran's Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the move would be illegal and called the U.S. a bully.
BREAKING: The United Nations removed the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). (29 YES, 8 NO) Yesterday, in a letter from prison, 14 imprisoned women activists supported the removal. #IRIoffCSW #MahsaAmini #مهسا_امینی #Iran #IranRevoIution pic.twitter.com/Vdh8MBlVTJ
— Omid Memarian (@Omid_M) December 14, 2022
The forum is attended by 45 countries, including Iran, which joined only nine months ago. The Commission is tasked with discussing and promoting respect for the human, political and social rights of women around the world.
The UN decision was made after massive protests in Iran for women's rights after the death of Mahsa Amini.
The text approved by the Commission "expresses a serious concerns about the government's actions of the Islamic Republic of Iran since September 2022, which has been continuously undermining and increasingly repressing the human rights of women and girls, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, often with excessive use of force."
The Commission's decision comes three months after riots broke out in Iran over the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was being held by the morality police.
Iran confirmed last Monday, December 5, that the morality police force had been disbanded. This was the government’s first concession after nearly three months of protests.
