Iran government’s protest crackdown kills dozens of children, prompts calls for removal from United Nations

Dozens of children have died during the Iranian government’s crackdown on protests across the country, prompting some to urge the United Nations to kick Iran from the global body. 

“The time has come for the international community to stand with the people of Iran, to accept their will, and to recognize their right to resist and defend themselves,” the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) told Fox News Digital. “This can be done by closing the regime’s embassies and designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, in order to hold the regime accountable and to put an end to their impunity.”

“The time has come to refer the dossier of the mullahs’ crimes to the United Nations Security Council and to take steps toward expelling this murderous regime from the U.N.,” the statement concluded. 

Iran’s regime has failed to stop protests that spread across the country over the past three months following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody, reaching over 140 cities and towns. Reports indicate that at least 700 people have died due to the government’s crackdown, including dozens of children. 

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UNICEF on Nov. 27 issued a statement in which it reported that as many as 50 children may have died during the protests, but that the number could be as high as 65. Iran has periodically denied such actions.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and has an obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of children to life, privacy, freedom of thought and peaceful assembly,” UNICEF said in a statement last month. 

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“UNICEF urges the authorities to respect the rights of all children to peaceful assembly as a fundamental guarantee — no matter who they are or where they are,” the statement added. “The best interest of children should be at the center of government action, creating ways where children can safely claim their rights in all circumstances.”

According to NCRI, five of the victims are under 10 years old, and the majority of the victims have been male. The largest number of child victims came from Zahedan. Most of the children died due to gunshots, but some were killed by baton blows or severe beatings from the security forces. 

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Iran’s policies toward protesters, as well as its generally oppressive policies for women, prompted the U.N. on Wednesday to oust the country from its seat on the Commission on the Status of Women. 

NCRI told Fox News Digital that the U.N. should go even further and eject Iran from the entire organization, referring to Article 6 of the U.N. Charter, which states that “a member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the Security Council.”

U.N. Secretary General António Guterres deferred comments on membership to the organization itself, but he “believes all member states need to live up to their commitments enshrined in the charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital. 

Dujarric added that Guterres “subscribes” to UNICEF’s message on the issue of child deaths in the protests, and he will “continue to speak out on these issues.”