US leads push to remove Iran from UN women’s rights commission

The US leads a push to remove Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, calling the Islamic republic’s membership “an ugly stain.”

The US envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, presents the resolution to the UN’s Economic and Social Council at the world body’s headquarters in New York. She blasts Iran for the death of Mahsa Amini and the violent crackdown on protesters after her death.

“We know she was killed for the crime of being a woman and we know that for too long, for too often this was not such an unusual thing in Iran,” Thomas-Greenfield says.

“When the people of Iran heard it they said enough was enough. Iranian women and men across the ethnicities and social classes stood up to protest,” she says.

“They have demanded their basic human rights. They have come together through a simple rallying call: women, life, freedom.”

She says women’s rights activists inspired the US move to have Iran removed from the commission.

“The reason why is straightforward — the commission is the premier UN body for promoting gender equality and empowering women. It cannot do its important work if it’s being undermined from within. Iran’s membership in this moment is an ugly stain on the commission’s credibility,” Thomas-Greenfield says.

The proposed resolution would remove Iran for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term on the commission. The vote on the resolution will take place later this morning.

Israel, the UK and a number of other countries have signed on as co-sponsors.