Statement by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on UN Vote to Remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women

Today in a historic vote, the United Nations acted to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women in response to the Iranian regime’s systemic repression of women and girls. This vote is another sign of the growing international consensus on Iran and demands for accountability. The United States is working with our allies and partners around the world to hold Iran accountable for the abuses it is committing against its own people, notably peaceful protesters, women and girls, and the violence it is enabling against the Ukrainian people, as well as its destabilizing actions throughout the Middle East region. Over the last week alone, the United States has issued three separate sets of sanctions targeting Iran’s financing of terror, protest-related human rights violations, and provision of UAVs to Russia for attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. We have acted in coordination with the EU, UK, Canada, Australia, and others who have issued new sanctions under their own authorities. These actions come on the heels of our regular drumbeat of sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program, the welcome decision of the UN Human Rights Council to set up a fact-finding mission to investigate brutal actions Iran is taking against its own people, and last week’s joint statement, signed by the United States, Australia, Canada, Chile, Iceland, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, and Sweden, and the United Kingdom, condemning targeted online harassment and abuse by Iranian authorities against women protestors. The recent horrifying executions in Tehran only strengthen our resolve to expand this growing consensus and pursue all possible mechanisms of accountability against the Iranian regime and its officials responsible for these atrocities. 

###