Terror Regime Iran Nominated to U.N. Human Rights Panel

The United Nations just nominated the Islamic Republic of Iran to help shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism.

UN credibility implodes – the scraps that were left of it. Why do we keep legitimizing this organization—with our presence, membership, and funding?

The nomination of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the U.N. Committee for Program and Coordination is a grotesque inversion of reality. A regime that conducts brutal crackdowns at home, of underwriting terrorist proxies abroad, and of using coercion, violence, rape abuse as tools of control is now poised to help shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention. The dissonance is staggering: those tasked with setting global standards are, in this case, the very actors many accuse of violating them. It’s not just hypocrisy, it hollows out the credibility of the institutions meant to defend the vulnerable, turning principles into theater and justice into a talking point rather than a mandate.

https://twitter.com/emilykschrader/status/2015553640715485463?s=20

BREAKING:

The United Nations just nominated the Islamic Republic of Iran to help shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism.

Yes, you read that right.

Why on earth are we funding this monstrosity?pic.twitter.com/BlqRgERiuY

— Yehuda Teitelbaum (@chalavyishmael) April 10, 2026

SHAME: The Islamic Republic of Iran has just been nominated to the U.N. Committee for Program and Coordination, which meets soon to shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention.

ECOSOC members who backed this include:
pic.twitter.com/vKwZOMiqON

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) April 10, 2026

Issues to be addressed by this U.N. committee:
May 14: Gender Equality & Empowerment of Women
May 19: Disarmament
May 21: Human Rights
May 21: Terrorism Prevention@Keir_Starmer @EmmanuelMacron @MarkJCarney @sanchezcastejon: Why did you nominate the Islamic Republic of Iran? pic.twitter.com/th3zVqtXiy

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) April 10, 2026

The following countries backed Iran’s nomination:

United Kingdom
Spain
Canada
France
Germany
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
Switzerland
Austria
Finland

UN Watch: Outrage at UN: Democracies Enable Iran, China, Cuba to Oversee Human Rights Bodies

GENEVA, April 10, 2026 — UN Watch, the independent Geneva-based non-governmental organization that monitors the United Nations, today called on Canada, France, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, and other democracies to explain why they joined in the election of serial abusers of human rights to key UN bodies that oversee human rights.

On Wednesday, the UN’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council nominated the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination, which meets next month to shape policy on women’s rights, human rights, disarmament, and terrorism prevention. ECOSOC’s nomination is effectively decisive, as the UN General Assembly customarily rubber-stamps such nominations without a vote.

In addition, ECOSOC by acclamation elected China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan to the influential Committee on NGOs, which oversees the work, accreditation and UN access of thousands of human rights and civil society groups that enjoy consulative status at the world body.

The United States was the only ECOSOC member to object, saying that Iran, Cuba and Nicaragua were “unfit.”

UN Watch today called on all democratic ECOSOC member states — Canada, France, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland — to explain why they joined in the election of serial abusers of human rights to key UN bodies that oversee human rights.

“Appointing China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia to oversee the work of human rights activists is like putting Al Capone in charge of fighting organized crime,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “It’s truly indefensible, and puts lives at risk.”

“As an organization accredited with special NGO consultative status at the United Nations, and which regularly gives a platform to dissidents from China, Cuba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Nicaragua, we are gravely concerned that brutal dictatorships were elected to oversee our work and credentials — and it is scandalous that Western democracies put them there.”

“This means dictatorships will have a majority on the committee in order to deny United Nations accreditation to independent organizations that call out their human rights violations, and to accredit more fake front groups created by the regimes,” Neuer said.

“It harms the ability of pro-democracy dissidents to protect the most vulnerable victims and to advocate for human rights inside the United Nations.”

“By their cynical actions at the UN, major Western states have betrayed their own human rights principles, severely undermining the ruled-based international order that they claim to support.”

“We note that Western states did take action in recent years to stop Russia from getting elected to similar ECOSOC bodies, and we deeply regret that they failed to do the same now to stop the election of serial violators such as Iran, China, China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan,” said Neuer.

Activists Issued Warning Before ECOSOC Election

Ahead of the election, 70 civil society and human rights groups warned that countries with poor records were at risk of being elected. The group International Service for Human Rights gave a failing grade to China, Cuba, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Nicaragua and others. Yet their warning was ignored.

Key Documents and Sources

• Video showing ECOSOC’s nomination without objection of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN’s Committee for Program and Coordination: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k12/k12k3u0ohr?kalturaStartTime=4582

• UN document listing election by acclamation of China, Cuba, Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan to the Committee on NGOs:
https://press.un.org/en/2026/ecosoc7225.doc.htm

• UN website showing that ECOSOC members currently include Canada, France, Spain, Norway, the Netherlands, Australia, the UK, Finland, Switzerland, Austria, and Finland: https://ecosoc.un.org/en/about-us/members

• U.S. statement dissociating itself from ECOSOC decisions, the only one of 54 ECOSOC members to do so: https://usun.usmission.gov/explanation-of-position-on-the-ecosoc-election-of-the-committee-on-non-governmental-organizations-and-the-committee-on-program-and-coordination/