Iran was ousted from the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women on Wednesday after the world body’s 54-member Economic and Social Council adopted a U.S.-initiated resolution to take that step.
The move comes in response to Tehran’s crackdown on nationwide protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the regime’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab “correctly.” Since her death on Sept. 16, the Islamic Republic has been rocked by widespread unrest.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the vote “sends an unmistakable message of support from around the world to the brave people of Iran, and in particular to Iranian women and girls, who remain undaunted despite the brutality and violence perpetrated against them by the Iranian regime.”
Blinken added that the ongoing protests “reveal an Iranian population craving the universal human rights to which every person worldwide is entitled.”
“Kicking Iran off the UN women’s commission is the bare minimum the UN can do. Iran’s evil regime has murdered hundreds of protesters, including women and children. It’s embarrassing that they were ever given a seat,” tweeted former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley.
Last week, nine foreign ministers representing country members of the “Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse,” including the U.S., released a statement in support of the women and girls of Iran.
Also, last week, the execution of a prisoner in Iran brought the total number of individuals executed by the clerical regime in 2022 to more than 500 people.
