Harris says Washington will expel Iran from UN committee

Harris says Washington will expel Iran from UN committee

US Vice President Kamala Harris pledged to seek to remove Iran from a UN Commission on Women's Rights and praised the "courage" of women-led protests against the Iranian regime.

Harris stated that

the United States would work with other States to expel Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, whose members were elected for four years.

The United States

• Vice-President accused Iran of

• having "demonstrated through its denial of 

• women's rights and the brutal repression of

• its people that it is not fit to serve on this Committee"

adding in this context:

"Iran's very existence undermines the integrity of its members and the work to strengthen its mission."

Iran has seen

a wave of protests described by Western news agencies as the widest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which erupted following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on 16 September following her arrest by the Ethics Police.

In response to the protests, Harris said

"See you and hear you. your courage inspires me like people all over the world ".

The United States and its European allies had imposed sanctions on Iran over its handling of the protests and were working to help make the authorities' Internet available.

The States members of

the Commission on the Status of Women are elected to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the members of which are selected by the General Assembly, and Iran is elected for a term ending in 2026, with Washington's term expiring next year.

Afghanistan had been elected to this body even though it was "not represented in the United Nations through the Taliban, which returned to power last year and banned women from government posts as well as girls' secondary education".

While Harris announced

the effort before an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council chaired by the United States and Albania, Iran's delegate to the United Nations, Amir Said Irwani, called the meeting a "flagrant violation" of his country's internal affairs and denounced U.S. sanctions against his country.

It has become standard practice for the United States to misuse valuable concepts such as human rights, manipulating United Nations platforms and resources to advance its baseless political agenda, Irwani said in his reply.

Irwani noted that

1. Iranians have the right to express
2. but protests "must not lead to violence
3. destruction, chaos and instability."

During this informal meeting of the Security Council, Iranian activists were heard calling for continued support for the protesters.