United Nations renews Iran’s seat on key committee, drawing criticism of human rights record

The United Nations General Assembly has renewed Iran's seat on its Committee for Programme and Coordination, which sets U.N. priorities on counterterrorism, women's rights and disarmament, drawing criticism over the Iranian government's human rights record and violence against protesters. 

Iran was one of 19 members elected to the committee for a 3-year term on Wednesday with 144 votes in a secret ballot. The term will begin in January, about a year after the Iranian government is reported to have killed tens of thousands of anti-regime protesters in January.

The 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council nominated Iran for the seat in April despite Iran's record of rights abuses and support for terrorist organizations.

The committee has 34 member states, each elected for three years. It sits outside the six main committees of the U.N. Its members study U.N. plans and set out recommendations on their priorities, design, coordination and effectiveness. 

Several member states objected to the result, saying Iran's record of aggression should bar it from reviewing programs on counterterrorism, human rights and women's rights.

Anita Anand, Canada's foreign minister, said on X that Canada voted against Iran and is "steadfastly opposed" to giving it the seat. She said committee members should abide by the United Nations Charter, and she accused Tehran of suppressing dissent inside Iran and fueling instability in the Middle East. Anand added that Canada stands with the Iranian people.

Australia also voted against Iran. Penny Wong, the Australian foreign minister, said Iran's "human rights violations and destabilizing conduct undermine multilateralism."

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee's Republican majority called the world body "morally bankrupt" in a post on X, asserting that the U.N. had placed "the world's biggest exporter of terrorism" on the committee and that "no sane person can take it seriously."

During Wednesday's session, Israel complained of a double standard applied to Israeli candidates. It accused Arab groups of repeatedly forcing politically driven votes on those candidates and called the process a "waste of time and resources," reports The Jerusalem Post. 

In a post on X, human rights watchdog UN Watch called Iran's win a "Disgraceful reward for a regime that massacred tens of thousands of people."

Hillel Neuer, the executive director of UN Watch, pressed diplomats to force a vote that could stop Iran's candidacy after the nomination. Before the vote, he called the plan to seat Iran "a travesty of justice." 

Neuer said ahead of the vote that Iran would use the seat for propaganda and that Iranian state media would quickly boast of the win. He accused Iranian authorities of hanging dissidents, torturing women who refuse to cover all of their hair and beating political prisoners. He asked whether the world had given the government "a pat on the back" or penalized it.

"As they're killing their own people, what does the world have to say?" he asked.

Neuer said keeping Iran on the panel lends Tehran international legitimacy while it remains in conflict with Washington. He accused the U.N. of acting "to empower dictatorships," while devoting much of its effort to attacking democracies such as the U.S. and Israel.

Last year, Neuer said the United Nations had one resolution each on Iran, North Korea and Myanmar, while Israel was the subject of 15 and Hamas was never named.

Neuer said the world is watching how the U.N. treats Iran because aggressors study how the world reacts.