S. Korea votes in favor of Iran’s removal from U.N. women’s rights body

SEOUL– South Korea has voted in favor of a resolution ousting Iran from a U.N. women’s body on Wednesday (New York time), along with 28 other countries, amid Tehran’s monthslong crackdown on protests.

The 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) adopted a resolution to oust Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), effectively removing Tehran from the remainder of its four-year term till 2026. Eight countries, including China and Russia, voted against the resolution.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., called Iran’s membership in the CSW an “ugly stain on the Commission’s credibility” and urged member countries to stand in solidarity for “woman, life, freedom” in her remarks before the vote.

The resolution comes after nearly three months of nationwide clampdown in Tehran against protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in hospital in September while in custody by the religious morality police for allegedly not wearing the hijab properly.

Source: Yonhap News Agency