Iran Condemns France's Support for Nasrin Sotoudeh

The speech of the French representative at a special women’s commission at the United Nations, which mentioned Nasrin Sotoudeh, faced a sharp reaction from the Islamic Republic's representative on Thursday. Farideh Olad Qabadh, a member of the Iranian Parliament who attended the 63rd session of the "Commission on the Status of Women" in New York, harshly criticized the French representative's remarks, calling them "irresponsible behavior" and "an abuse of the Security Council's presidency to interfere in the affairs of countries." According to IRNA, the head of the Women’s Commission in the Iranian Parliament advised the French representative to "first address the deep social discontent within France." This statement was a reaction to remarks made by Marlene Schiappa, the French representative at the same session, who mentioned Nasrin Sotoudeh during her opening speech on Tuesday. Ms. Schiappa, who heads the "Gender Equality Secretariat" in Emmanuel Macron's cabinet, referred to her country's actions in gender equality, including Macron's recent appointment of members to the "G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council." In her remarks, she expressed her desire to send a "sisterly and supportive greeting from France to Nasrin Sotoudeh, who is currently imprisoned in Iran." These comments were met with applause from attendees at the session. Ms. Schiappa also referenced her mention of Nasrin Sotoudeh on her personal Twitter account. However, the Islamic Republic's representative described these remarks as "interference in the affairs of countries" and, like other Iranian officials, pointed to recent protests in France. Over the past four months since the start of the protests known as the "Yellow Vests" in France, Iranian officials and government-affiliated organizations have frequently referenced them, with the commander of the Revolutionary Guards describing these protests as "derived from the Islamic Revolution." Meanwhile, coinciding with the speech of the Iranian Parliament representative at the UN, Fars news agency reported that "a group of seminary students and students" gathered in front of the French embassy in Tehran on Thursday, the last Thursday of the year, "to express solidarity with the families of victims of recent protests in France." Images of several young people in front of the French embassy have also been shared on social media. Farideh Olad Qabadh, a reformist representative from Tehran, also mentioned in her speech at the UN that the sanctions against Iran have "clearly led to the violation of the human rights of women and girls, including their rights to health, education, food security, and access to social security systems, public services, and sustainable infrastructure." The 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women includes a variety of programs that began on March 11 and will continue until March 22 in New York, and the "special session of parliaments" held at the UN headquarters was one of its programs.