Uproar after Iran named vice-chair of UN body promoting democracy, women’s rights

UNITED NATIONS: Iran’s predetermination arsenic vice-chair of the United Nations Commission for Social Development is being slammed by quality rights advocates and argumentation analysts, who person condemned the U.N.'s hypocrisy erstwhile it comes to its attraction of undemocratic regimes. 

The enactment relation was approved without objection during a gathering of the commission, wherever delegates adopted docket items and organizational decisions by consensus.

The United Nations has faced continued disapproval implicit its inaction towards the regime's convulsive crackdown against protesters successful December and January. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres faced disapproval for congratulating Iran connected the day of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

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Pezeshkian accused the U.S. of a "grave betrayal" astatine the United Nations General Assembly connected Sept. 24, 2025, successful New York City.  (Jeenah Moon/Reuters)

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz criticized the development, penning connected X: "Yet different crushed wherefore we are not a subordinate of, nor bash we enactment in, this ridiculous ‘Commission for Social Development.’"

Alireza Jafarzadeh, writer of The Iran Threat and lawman manager of the U.S. bureau of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, besides criticized the decision. "Having the Iranian authorities successful the enactment of a U.N. assemblage tasked with promoting democracy, sex equality, tolerance and non-violence is appalling and similar fox guarding the hen house," Jafarzadeh said. "The immense bulk of the Iranian radical are calling for authorities alteration due to the fact that the mullahs are the world’s starring quality rights violators, misogynist to the core, and they slaughter the voices of dissent by thousands."

He argued that Iran should look scrutiny alternatively than organization advancement. "Instead, the Iranian authorities indispensable beryllium a taxable of aggravated probe and accountability by each U.N. bodies for crimes against humanity and genocide, from the 1980s to January 2026 uprisings," Jafarzadeh said. "Decades of inaction by Western governments person emboldened the regime. This indispensable halt now."

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People stitchery successful Dag Hammerskjold Park crossed the thoroughfare from the U.N. office to protestation Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who addressed the General Assembly connected Wednesday.  (Peter Aitken for Fox News Digital)

"By electing Iran to assistance pb a committee devoted to democracy, women’s rights and non-violence, the U.N. makes itself into a mockery," said Hillel Neuer, enforcement manager of UN Watch. "This is simply a authorities that brutalizes women for not covering their hair, and that conscionable massacred tens of thousands of its ain civilians successful 2 days."

Neuer argued that governments had the quality to artifact the assignment but chose not to act. "The EU states cognize however to halt abusive regimes from winning these seats — they’ve done truthful successful the caller past with Russia — but this clip connected Iran, they chose soundlessness and complicity," helium said. "By rewarding the Mullahs close aft their slaughter of innocents, the U.N. has present sent a precise unsafe connection to Tehran."

Lisa Daftari, an Iran analyst, said the optics of Iran holding a enactment relation successful a committee centered connected societal improvement and rights were profoundly troubling.

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Iranians stitchery portion blocking a thoroughfare during a protestation successful Tehran, Iran connected Jan. 9, 2026.   (MAHSA / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

"For Iranian women who hazard situation oregon worse conscionable for taking disconnected a headscarf, watching Tehran get a vice-chair connected a U.N. social-development committee feels similar a slap successful the face."

She added that broader patterns successful U.N. voting and resolutions lend to perceptions of bias.

"When the aforesaid U.N. strategy has spent the past decennary passing astir 170-plus resolutions against Israel and lone astir 80 connected each different countries combined, you don’t request a PhD to spot there’s a bias problem," Daftari said. "When the U.N. has churned retired good implicit a 100 anti-Israel resolutions successful caller years portion managing a fraction of that fig connected the world’s worst dictatorships, it looks little similar motivation enactment and much similar governmental theater."

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Protesters pain images of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally held successful Solidarity with Iran's Uprising, organized by The nationalist Council of Resistance of Iran, connected Whitehall successful cardinal London Jan. 11, 2026, to protestation against the Iranian regime's crackdown connected net entree and "recognise their close to self-defense against the regime's forces".  (Carlos Jasso/AFP via Getty Images)

Daftari rejected that procedural quality of United Nations committees and committees.

"Some diplomats volition question this distant arsenic a procedural formality, but astatine the U.N. thing is ever purely symbolic," she said. "The bottommost enactment is that handing Iran’s authorities a gavel connected ‘social development’ confirms yet again that the spot is biased and profoundly hypocritical."