UN Body To Vote on Removing Iran From Status of Women Commission

A United Nations body is set to vote today on a resolution to remove Iran from the commission dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), based at the UN in New York, will consider the resolution submitted by the United States to “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term,” Reuters first reported. A letter submitted to the committee by Iran, 17 UN member countries, and the Palestinians as a nonmember observer state, called on the ECOSOC to cancel the vote, calling it “an unwelcome precedent that will ultimately prevent other member states with different cultures, customs, and traditions … from contributing to the activities of such commissions.” Iran has been violently cracking down on anti-government protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of the country’s modesty police for wearing her hijab incorrectly.