An Iranian woman unveiling in protest to the mandatory hijab
Calls for expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) are getting stronger with the US and the Netherlands joining the chorus.
US Vice President Kamala Harris said on Wednesday that Washington will try to remove Iran from the 45-member CSW over the government's denial of women's rights and brutal crackdown on protests.
The Islamic Republic is just starting a four-year term on the commission, which meets annually every March and aims to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.
"The United States believes that no nation that systematically abuses the rights of women and girls should play a role in any international or United Nations body charged with protecting these very same rights," Harris said in a statement.
"Iran has demonstrated through its denial of women's rights and brutal crackdown on its own people that it is unfit to serve on this Commission," Harris said.
On Tuesday, the Dutch Senate adopted a motion calling on its government to “support any proposal” to remove the Iranian regime from the UN Women’s Rights Commission.
UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights group based in Geneva, has drafted a resolution for the 54-nation UN Economic Social Council (ECOSOC) to remove Iran.
A group of women leaders in business, politics, and the arts from over 14 countries has called for the immediate expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the UN Commission.
In an open letter, published in The New York Times on Sunday, October 29, the preeminent leaders expressed their solidarity with Iranian women and girls, as well as men, who are holding daily protests for more than 40 days across the country and abroad following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini.