The United Nations General Assembly condemned Iran’s violence against protesters, as part of a wide-ranging text against human rights violations by the Islamic Republic, including its executions and acts of antisemitism.
The text was approved in New York late Thursday with the support of only 80 out of the UNGA’s 193 member states.
Israel and Western countries, including Canada and the United States, voted for the annual text highlighting Iranian human rights abuses. The Jewish state also joined over 40 countries in sponsoring the resolution.
Only 29 nations opposed the resolution, while 65 others abstained, including many in the Middle East, such as the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Bahrain was absent from the vote.
The resolution comes amid a groundswell of protest against the regime, particularly for its treatment of women and after the public execution of two protesters and the killing of others.
The General Assembly “condemned the wide use of force against violent protesters” and urged the Iranian regime “to consider rescinding unduly harsh sentences, including the death penalty” imposed upon those who have rallied against it.
The resolution expressed its supporters’ serious concern about the actions of Iran’s morality police and the law requiring women to wear a hijab.
The text also “condemned without reservation” Iranian antisemitism and Holocaust denial.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said his country supported human rights and denounced the hypocrisy of those who backed the resolution – including Canada, Europe and the “Zionist regime.”
Instead of continuing with “Iranophobia and psychological warfare against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” those who supported the text should “stop supporting the US administration’s economic terrorism against the Iranian nation.”
Separate resolutions
The UNGA also passed a resolution condemning human rights violations in Syria, including the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons.
That text was approved with the support of only 92 countries – more than the one regarding Iran, but still less than half of the member countries. Israel was one of the text’s sponsors; only 14 countries voted against it while 71 abstained.