The United Nations to Vote on Iran's Future on Women's Rights Body in December
Iran's removal from a U.N. women's equality and empowerment committee will be voted on December 14, diplomats announced on Monday, as the United States presses for Tehran to be punished for its denial of women's rights and violent crackdown on protests.
According to a draft resolution the Reuters news agency obtained on Monday, the United States condemns Iran's actions as "flagrantly antithetical to the human rights of women and girls and to the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women."
Iran has recently begun its four-year tenure as a member of the 45-member commission, which holds its annual March meeting to advance gender equality and women's empowerment.
According to the text of the resolution proposed by the United States, "the Islamic Republic of Iran shall be immediately removed from the Commission on the Status of Women for the duration of its 2022-2026 term."
Whether or not Iran keeps its seat on the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will be decided by a majority vote of the council's 54 members.
A U.N. diplomat said, on the condition of anonymity, "The U.S. and others have been actively working the phones to garner support to remove Iran from the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. It seems like they're making traction – including with some initially hesitant countries."
Protests have swept Iran following the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, in police detention in September. There has been a widespread uprising by Iranians of all socioeconomic backgrounds in response to the disturbance, representing one of the most serious challenges to the clerical government since the 1979 revolution.
The Iranian government has placed the blame on foreign enemies and their agents.
Last week, to the delight of campaigners, the United Nations Rights Council in Geneva voted to commission an independent probe into Iran's violent crackdown on protesters. In an "appalling and disgraceful" move, Tehran claimed Western powers were using the council to attack Iran.