Iran removed from U.N. commission that promotes women's rights

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A United States-led pressure campaign to remove Iran from a United Nations panel for women's rights succeeded on Wednesday, a punishment for the Islamic nation's deadly crackdown on protests against its morality police.

The Commission on the Status of Women passed a resolution removing Iran 29-8 with 16 abstaining.

Iran continued to be beset by protests around the country over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of its morality police on Sept. 16 for not wearing her hijab correctly. The regime has been blamed for additional deaths as authorities brutally cracked down on anti-government demonstrations over her death.

Iran has blamed the United States and other Western countries for the continued protests.

The Commission on the Status of Women is the principal global intergovernmental body dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women globally.

Activists and human rights groups have called Iran's role on the commission a farce, considering its reaction to the protests. The Iranian representative on the panel, Amir Saied Iravani called the resolution a "hostile policy towards Iranian people."

Russia and China voted against the resolution. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan, though, called the vote "historic."

"The United States is working with our allies and partners around the world to hold Iran accountable for the abuses it is committing against its own people, notably peaceful protesters, women and girls, and the violence it is enabling against the Ukrainian people, as well as its destabilizing actions throughout the Middle East region," he said.