The United States said on Monday that it sees no sign that the situation for women in Iran will improve after the unexpected announcement of the abolition of the moral police.
“Unfortunately, there is no evidence that Iranian leaders are improving the way they treat women and girls or stopping the violence they inflict on peaceful protesters,” a State Department spokesperson said, declining to “comment.” ambiguous or vague claims” of Iranian power. .
Human rights activists fear a lure
For the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, it remains to be seen if the regime “will take into account” the aspirations of the Iranian people, expressed through these demonstrations.
“The efforts of repression, of using violence, of arresting people,… it is not a sign of strength, it is a sign of weakness,” declared the secretary of state, on the sidelines of trade talks with the European Union. in the Washington suburbs.
Iran’s attorney general’s announcement over the weekend about abolishing the morality police was seen as a gesture towards the protesters, but some Iranian human rights activists doubt it is a reality.
They also believe that the abolition of the moral police would in no way change the obligation to wear the veil, imposed by a law dating from 1983.
Will they soon be removed from the UN Women’s Commission?
Iran is rocked by a protest movement unprecedented since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, sparked by the death on September 16 of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, after her arrest by police.
In early November, US Vice President Kamala Harris launched an initiative to remove Iran from the UN Commission on Women.
A call renewed Sunday by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The Iranian government “should not” sit on this body “responsible for promoting gender equality and women’s emancipation,” she tweeted, calling for it to be “removed.”
A public petition to that effect had received more than 165,000 signatures on Monday. A vote on Iran’s withdrawal from this committee will take place next week at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
On Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani accused Washington of expelling Iran “with the help of some European countries,” an “illegal” and “politically motivated” move.
Source: BFM TV
