Twenty-nine members of the U.N. Economic and Social Council voted to oust Iran from a women's rights panel, citing "serious concern" over Tehran's crackdown amid a growing protest movement arising from 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death.
The 29-8 vote in ECOSOC on Wednesday, with 16 abstentions, immediately expelled Iran from the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, based on a U.S. resolution. Iran's term on the commission began this year and was due to end in 2026.
The resolution described Iran's violent crackdown on street protestors in the wake of Amini's death as "systematic oppression" and expressed “serious concern” that Iran was acting to "continuously undermine and increasingly suppress the human rights of women and girls, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, often with the use of excessive force."
The commission, which is part of ECOSOC, is an global intergovernmental body that promotes gender equality and the empowerment of women.
The U.S. said Iran's actions run counter the commission's purpose. Iran's state-run Nour News called the nation's expulsion "a clear violation of the philosophy" of the 1945 Charter of the United Nations.
Amini, a Kurdish woman, died in September after being taken into custody by Tehran's morality police for allegedly failing to fully cover her hair in keeping with the nation's strict dress codes. Her death has sparked nationwide protests challenging Iran's rulers.
"The Iranian government has responded with brutality and with violence. And you have to ask, why would they want to be on a commission that protects women?" U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after the vote.
"We had to act. Iranian women have clearly called for us, here at the United Nations, to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women. It was a sensible request. Iran’s membership directly undermines the commission’s work. Its membership was a stain on our credibility. Today, we removed that stain."
