Iran expelled from UN Women's Commission
Iran's participation in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women has lasted only nine months. It was only this year that Tehran became a member of the Commission and it has now ceased to do so following the approval of the proposal presented by the United States to expel Tehran from the Commission. The repression by Iran's security forces has raised international alarm that, in view of the continued violation of Iranian women's rights, it has decided to take the step of expelling Ali Khamenei's country from the Women's Commission.
The request sent by the Americans called for "the immediate withdrawal of the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term". Kamala Harris, vice-president of the United States, does not consider the Iranian country "fit" to be part of this body, so they decided to launch an initiative that materialised yesterday in a vote that, with 29 votes in favour, eight against and 16 abstentions, certified the expulsion of Iran from the Commission.
Some, such as Russia, China and Nicaragua, have denounced the decision as purely political and far from a real intention to protect Iranian women. Before the vote took place, 17 countries joined Iran in sending a text warning of the danger of a vote that "will undoubtedly create an undesirable precedent that will ultimately prevent other member states with different cultures, customs and traditions... from contributing to the activities of these Commissions". However, the Iranian request has clearly not been successful.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations, told Arab News that the UN has "a sense that the Iranians have been puzzled". She added that "the fact that they were there (in the chamber) and protested (shows that) clearly, for reasons that are not clear to me, they want to be part of this Council". However, he believes that the organisation has acted consistently by expelling Iran as this was the "clear" will of Iranian women and activists, and that they hope that, from now on, there will be a real change that will allow Tehran to return.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent representative to the UN, described the US proposal as "illegal" and said that Washington's sole objective was to pursue a "hostile policy towards Iranians, especially Iranian women". Votes against the expulsion came from Russia, China, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Oman and Zimbabwe, who also accused Washington of using the proposal as a political weapon. However, the reality is that, as Thomas-Greenfield noted, the Commission "cannot do its important work if it is undermined from within".
The US ambassador believes that "Iran's membership at this time is an ugly stain on the credibility of the Commission", as she put it after the resolution was tabled. This came as no surprise given that Washington announced in early November its intention to expel Iran, an idea that was supported from the outset by EU countries and its Australian, Canadian and Israeli allies, and which now achieves its goal by leaving Iran's dictatorial regime out of the Commission on the Status of Women.
