A global soccer players’ union says it’s “shocked and sickened” by reports that an Iranian professional soccer player is at risk of being executed for his involvement in anti-government protests.
“We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment.”
Azari shared pictures of two Iranian soccer players, Nasr-Azadani and Voria Ghafouri, who were both arrested by security forces.
The Iranian network contacted a relative of Nasr-Azadani, who told the publication that his family was threatened by authorities in the days after his arrest. The unidentified relative said that police threatened them that Nasr-Azadani would face a more severe punishment if they disclosed news of his arrest.
The main protests in 2022 have been conducted by civilians rather than militant groups. The demonstrations have turned into a popular revolt by furious Iranians from all layers of society, posing one of the most significant legitimacy challenges to the Shi'ite clerical elite since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran Ousted From UN Women’s Commission
The United Nations Economic and Social Council, meanwhile, voted on Dec. 14 to immediately oust Iran from a prominent women’s rights body due to the regime systematically violating the rights of women and girls.The U.S.-sponsored resolution was sparked by Iran’s ongoing brutal crackdown on protesters who took to the streets in September after Amini’s death.
The vote to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of its 2022–2026 term was 29–8, with 16 abstentions, in the 54-member council.
Russia opposed the resolution and said before the vote that it wants an opinion from U.N. legal experts on whether the Economic and Social Council was legally able to oust Iran.
The resolution expresses “serious concern” over Iran’s actions since September “to continuously undermine and increasingly suppress the human rights of women and girls, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, often with the use of excessive force, by administering policies flagrantly contrary to the human rights of women and girls and to the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as through the use of lethal force resulting in the deaths of peaceful protesters, including women and girls.”
Established in 1946, the Commission on the Status of Women plays a leading role in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives around the world.
Its 45 members, from all regions of the world, are elected for four-year terms by the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
