OCCASIONALLY THERE IS GOOD NEWS:  It isn't often that we can report something good happening at the vastly corrupt UN.  Today is different.  Iran took a beating, well deserved, and we cheer.  From ABC News:

UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. Economic and Social Council voted Wednesday to immediately oust Iran from the U.N.’s premiere global body fighting for gender equality because of its systematic violation of the rights of women and girls, a decision the United States hailed as “historic” and Iran claimed was based on “fabricated allegations.”

The U.S.-sponsored resolution was sparked by Iran’s ongoing brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters who took to the streets in September after the death of a 22-year-old woman taken into custody by the morality police. At least 488 people have been killed since the demonstrations began, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that’s been monitoring the protests, while another 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.

The vote in the 54-member council known as ECOSOC to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term was 29-8 with 16 abstentions.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called the vote “historic,” the first-ever ouster of a commission member and “the right thing to do.”

“I think we sent a strong message to the Iranian government and we sent a strong message to Iranian women,” she told reporters after the vote.

Before the vote, Thomas-Greenfield cited the death of Mahsa Amini who was accused of wearing her headscarf improperly by the morality police; the solitary confinement of two women reporters who told her story; and the young women and girls who have been killed or disappeared for speaking out along with thousands of protesters reportedly detained and tortured.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the vote shows a growing consensus among the United States and its allies and partners around the world that Iran must be held accountable for “atrocities” such as the recent “horrifying executions” of protesters in Tehran.

Established in 1946, the Commission on the Status of Women plays a leading role in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives around the world and shaping global standards to empower women and achieve gender equality.

Its 45 members, from all regions of the world, are elected for four-year terms by the Economic and Social Council. Iran was elected from the Asian region with 43 votes.

Before Wednesday’s vote, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani accused the United States of using its “longstanding hostility toward the Iranian people” under “the guise of human rights” to remove Iran from the commission. He then cited efforts by the U.S. and its allies to topple “multiple legitimate governments,” implying that it is also trying to topple Iran’s.

Iravani said the U.S. resolution would impede the advancement of Iranian women who he said are “strong, dynamic, self-sufficient and intelligent” participants in the country’s economic, social and political life.

COMMENT:  I'm very surprised that the United States sponsored this courageous resolution.  Up to now we have disgraced ourselves by constant appeasement of the Iranian government.  Maybe there's a new recognition that this policy, initiated by appeaser-in-chief Barack Hussein Obama Jr,  has failed miserably. I'm not convinced that the Biden team is entirely on board with this view.  We'll wait and see.

The women of Iran have led the revolution of recent months.  They are heroines.  By contrast, so-called "women's" organizations in the United States have been silent about the courage shown by their Iranian sisters.  Are they really women's organizations today, or merely front operators for the political left.  That is a news story.  I wish someone would tell it.

December 14, 2022