Iran says US ‘in no position’ to advocate women’s rights after sham UN vote

Iran has condemned the US-backed move to oust the country from the UN women's body saying Washington and its allies are in no position to advocate women's rights.

Iran’s deputy envoy to the United Nations, Zahra Ershadi, made the remarks on Wednesday after Iran was ousted from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) following a draft proposal by the United States over what it claimed to be “policies contrary to the rights of women and girls” in the country.

The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted the US-drafted resolution 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."

Twenty-nine members of the ECOSOC voted in favor of Iran’s expulsion from the United Nations women's body, eight countries voted against and 16 abstained.

Shortly after the vote, Ershadi took the floor and condemned the US and certain countries for drafting the text, saying that Iran will remain committed to defending women's and girls’ rights despite being out of the UN body.

“The US and its allies are not in a position to call themselves women's rights defenders when they support the Israeli regime that blatantly violates the rights of Palestinian women and girls,” Ershadi noted.

Another deputy permanent representative of Iran to the United Nations condemned the politicization of women's rights by the US, UK, EU and Canada at the world body and said Iran’s removal was based on unfounded claims.

“In light of the fact that the US, EU, UK, Canada and some other countries continue to forge the reality, I would like to draw your attention to the systematic and systemic racial discrimination in these countries that impact a significant number of people, including women and girls of African American, Muslims, indigenous, be in workplace, courts, media, digital platforms or in their everyday life,” Iran’s deputy permanent representative said.

“As closest allies of the US are committing the gravest crimes in our recent history, they continue to stay on the safe side of this political show. Perhaps, this is high time for them to quit this futile show and deal faithfully with their dark human rights issues. They can never blare reality,” she added.

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