Global Courant 2023-04-21 02:11:01
A new bipartisan caucus in Congress condemns the Iranian government for its recent poisoning of schoolgirls in the country, adding to Washington’s growing criticism of the Islamic Republic and its disdain for human rights.
D-Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee announced the formation of the Iranian Women’s Congress Caucus with the support of nearly 20 Republican and Democratic members of the House.
It is just the most recent example of US officials denouncing the Iranian government’s treatment of women since nationwide protests erupted over the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the Iranian authorities. vice squad. Amini was accused of violating Iran’s strict dress code for women by wearing her headscarf inappropriately.
Those protests, which represent one of the biggest challenges to the Iranian theocracy since the 1979 revolution, have been going on for months. According to human rights activists in Iran, more than 500 people have been killed in demonstrations. More than 19,700 others have been detained by authorities amid a violent crackdown to quell dissent.
Earlier this year, the House overwhelmingly passed a resolution expressing solidarity with the protesters.
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Since then, a string of suspected poisonings in girls’ schools across the country, which began late last year and sickened hundreds of children, has fueled claims of women’s and girls’ rights violations and led to demonstrations.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all affairs of state, spoke publicly about the suspected poisonings last month. He said if it is proven to be intentional, the perpetrators should be sentenced to death for committing an “unforgivable crime”.
Protesters gather on the National Mall to protest against the Iranian regime, in Washington on October 22, 2022, following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Islamic Republic’s notorious “morality police”. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Iranian officials only acknowledged the attacks in recent weeks and have not provided details about who may be behind the attacks or what chemicals, if any, may have been used. Unlike neighboring Afghanistan, Iran has no history of religious extremists targeting women’s education.
Advocates and human rights groups have called on the US and other Western democracies to cut ties with the Islamic Republic, including any ongoing nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
Last month, the US took its criticism of Iran’s handling of the issue a step further by imposing more sanctions on the country, targeting people and companies accused of violating women’s rights during a crackdown on protests against the government over the treatment of young women and girls. .
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Included in the sanctions are two prison officials, several companies that manufacture equipment for Iranian law enforcement, the commander-in-chief of the Iranian army and many others.
The congressional meeting announced Thursday includes more than a dozen lawmakers from both sides of the aisle planning to write resolutions and draft potential legislation targeting women’s rights in Iran.
“So many Iranian women are showing their courage and resilience in the face of challenges in their fight for equality and human rights,” Representative Nancy Mace, RS.C., one of the members of the caucus, said in a statement Thursday. “We will stand on the side of freedom and oppose the oppression of women, in the United States, Iran and around the world.”
