Iran removed from UN women's rights body after crackdown on protests

It comes after months of nationwide protests fighting for greater rights, especially for women.

Protester with Iran flag painted on face close up.

Protests have been held in Iran and around the world following the death of Mahsa Amini. Source: EPA / CLEMENS BILAN/EPA

Key points
  • Nationwide protests have erupted across Iran since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody.
  • A proposal from the US has successfully ousted Iran from the UN's womens body.
  • Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest.
Iran has been removed from a United Nations women's body, a move proposed after the country's brutal crackdown on protests sparked by the death of a young woman in custody.

Demonstrations have swept Iran for nearly three months since Mahsa Amini died after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for .

The membership of Iran on the UN Economic and Social Council was labelled an "ugly stain on the commission’s credibility" by the US, who drafted the resolution.

On Wednesday, 29 member countries voted in favour, eight against and there were 16 abstentions.
Iran's UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani called the US move illegal, describing the United States as a bully.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic hanged a man in public who state media said had been convicted of killing two members of the security forces, the second execution in less than a week of people involved in protests against Iran's ruling theocracy.
Nationwide unrest erupted three months ago after the death while in detention of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Ms Amini, who was arrested by morality police enforcing the Islamic Republic's mandatory dress code laws.

The demonstrations have turned into a popular revolt by furious Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the most significant legitimacy challenges to the Shi'ite clerical elite since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran has blamed its foreign enemies and their agents for the unrest.

The Geneva-based UN Rights Council voted last month to appoint an independent investigation into Iran's deadly repression of protests, passing the motion to cheers of activists.

Iran has accused Western states of using the council to target Iran in an "appalling and disgraceful" move.

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Published 15 December 2022 7:30am
Source: Reuters


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