Second statement by

the Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

during the action on the resolution E/2023/L.4

entitled “Removal of the Islamic Republic of Iran from membership in the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022–2026 term”

Under the agenda item 19 (a)

Before the United Nations Economic and Social Council

New York, 14 December 2022

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Madam President,

First and foremost, my delegation categorically rejects the resolution adopted today. The baseless and fabricated allegations made against the Islamic Republic of Iran are considered a justification for their ill-intentioned plan to deprive it of CSW membership.

Following this adoption, the United Nations and its principal organs and the core value of democracy were attacked by the US through undermining the principles of the UN Charter and manipulating the ECOSOC rules of procedures and practices. In its letter to the Secretary-General as well as the ECOSOC and CSW members, Iran warned about the peril of offering this platform to the US to set such a novel precedent that lacks a legal basis.

Tragically, the UN, as an organization created for multilateralism is hosted by a country that strives for exclusivity, supremacy, unilateralism, international bullying, and intimidation as part of its foreign policy agenda. Systematic instrumentalization and exploitation of the UN's principal organs, including the General Assembly, Security Council, and now ECOSOC, is being carried out by this government.

The United States is a country that has recently sought to undermine the role and competence of the NGO Committee, which has not even ratified the core international human rights treaties, including the CRC, CESCR, and CRPD, which provides ongoing and illegitimate support for the Israeli regime that has decades of track record of violence against Palestinian women and girls, which is blamed for the current situation of Afghan women and girls following its withdrawal from Afghanistan, and which imposes enduring challenges exacerbated by the illegal and inhuman unilateral coercive measures against Iranians, including Iranian women and girls. Even more so, the Permanent Representative of the United States in the neighbor chamber advocates for multilateralism while simultaneously sacrificing it here in this chamber.

As we have previously stated, this political adventure is not in the interests of either ECOSOC, CSW, or Iranian women and girls.

Those countries whose interests are tied to the US's interventionist foreign policy must be on guard from this meeting on. As soon as this boat that we built together is drilled, with a hole inserted by some, there will be no time to choose between being a victim or a survivor. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This journey commenced by the US can be continued by targeting any other member state, not just on women`s rights but on any other matters.

Madam President,

How can we trust their rhetoric about women's rights while they restricted the avenue provided for cooperation and sharing experiences and best practices through the CSW.

Iran has participated and engaged constructively in the CSW sessions as a member and non-member before, and will be genuinely committed to the rights and dignity of women and girls as always. Our efforts to promote and protect women's rights are driven by our rich culture and well-established Constitution and is based on our cultural and ethical values and particular national policies, laws, and regulations.

Just a cursory look at the advancement of Iranian women and girls and their status in various fields, from education, health, economic independence, political participation, media, and sport to pursuing their civil rights, can lead you to perceive Iran away from prejudice, as a progressive society that takes into consideration the needs and listens to the voices of its women and girls eagerly and strives toward a better future for and with its women and girls.

But, Madam President, I should underscore that my delegation condemns any politicization of women's rights and rejects whole the falsehoods and accusations made, in particular by the US and and certain EU members in this meeting regarding the recent events in Iran that such activities are not considered as exercising the right to peaceful assembly. As the closest allies of the US are committing the gravest atrocities in our recent history, they continue to stay on the safe side of this political show. Perhaps this is the high time for them to quit this futile show and deal faithfully with their dark human rights issues. They can never blur reality.

In light of the fact 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 impacts a significant number of people, including women and girls of African-American, Muslim and indigenous, be it in the workplace, courts, media, digital platforms, or their everyday life. These countries also support rioters in other independent countries under the pretext of protecting human rights. They interfere with the internal affairs of sovereign states while violating the UN Charter. 

I do remind the Permanent Representative of Canada to take a serious look at their treatment of indigenous peoples, and their dark history of ethnic cleansing of poor native children and the torture they did at the site of its residential schools. 

In addition, a representative of an apartheid regime in our region is also among them to advise us on human rights, particularly after a woman journalist was recently shot and killed by its occupation forces.

It`s astounding that the Israeli regime, with the systematic apartheid combined with raids, occupation, colonization, intimidation, and the unlawful and inhumane siege which continues unabated with the unconditional support of the U.S. and other western countries, is lecturing us on women`s rights. A long-standing CSW resolution entitled "Situation of and assistance to Palestinian women" has documented this regime's unlawful acts and the Secretary-General reports accordingly. In addition, the ECOSOC itself, during its July to July sessions, under agenda item 16 considers “Economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. With that, I would like to ask you, as ECOSOC members, why the US`s concerns over women`s rights are surprisingly ignored in these cases but highlighted in the case of Iran.

By witnessing such hypocrisy, double-standard, and selectivity in the behavior and practice of the US and its allies, Iranian women and girls are pondering who the real women`s rights defenders are.

I thank you Madam President