Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Claire Chandler, has called for the removal of Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini died following her violent arrest last week by Iran’s ‘morality police’ for not covering her hair with a hijab.

“It was always unacceptable for Iran to be sitting on the UN’s foremost women’s rights body. The killing of Mahsa Amini demonstrates exactly why,” Senator Chandler said.

“For as long as Iran remains on the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission can have no credibility. Regimes which have no respect for women’s rights, and which use violence to enforce laws which suppress women’s rights, have no right to be setting the agenda for the rights of women around the world.

“Australia should take a lead role in working with other nations towards Iran’s removal from the Commission and ensuring there is an independent investigation into the actions of Iranian police.

“As the pictures being broadcast around the world demonstrate, Iranian women are showing extraordinary bravery protesting against their oppression and the killing of Mahsa Amini. It is incumbent on the international community to support them and take practical steps to ensure the United Nations is supporting them as well.”