Iran likely to be ousted from U.N. women's commission - Reuters

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Iran was ousted from a United Nations women's assemblage connected Wednesday for policies contrary to the rights of women and girls, a determination projected by the United States aft Tehran's brutal crackdown connected protests sparked by the decease of a young pistillate successful custody.

The 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a U.S.-drafted solution to "remove with contiguous effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission connected the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term."

On Wednesday, 29 voted successful favor, 8 against and determination were 16 abstentions.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told ECOSOC earlier the ballot that removing Iran was the close happening to do, describing Tehran’s rank arsenic an “ugly stain connected the commission’s credibility.”

Iran's U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani called the U.S. determination arsenic illegal, describing the United States arsenic a bully.

The 45-member Commission connected the Status of Women meets annually each March and aims to beforehand sex equality and the empowerment of women.

Iran, 17 different states and the Palestinians had argued successful a missive to ECOSOC connected Monday that a ballot "will undoubtedly make an unwelcome precedent that volition yet forestall different Member States with antithetic cultures, customs and traditions ... from contributing to the activities of specified Commissions."

Only 5 of the signatories to the missive are presently ECOSOC members and were capable to ballot connected Wednesday.

The Islamic Republic connected Monday hanged a man successful nationalist who authorities media said had been convicted of sidesplitting 2 members of the information forces, the 2nd execution successful little than a week of radical progressive successful protests against Iran's ruling theocracy.

Nationwide unrest erupted 3 months agone aft the decease portion successful detention of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian pistillate Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality constabulary enforcing the Islamic Republic's mandatory formal codification laws.

The demonstrations person turned into a fashionable revolt by furious Iranians from each layers of society, posing 1 of the astir important legitimacy challenges to the Shi'ite clerical elite since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

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

The Geneva-based U.N. Rights Council voted past month to name an autarkic probe into Iran's deadly repression of protests, passing the question to cheers of activists. Tehran accused Western states of utilizing the assembly to people Iran successful an "appalling and disgraceful" move.

Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.