Here are the main events that occurred in Politics this week
1.Iran Executes First Protestor Linked To Ongoing Revolution
Iran has executed a man for allegedly injuring a paramilitary officer in the first known execution linked to the revolution that has swept the country since September, state media reported on December 8. Mizan Online, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, and the semi-official Tasmin news agency both named the protester as Mohsen Shekari. He was reportedly convicted of “waging war against god” for allegedly stabbing a member of the Basij paramilitary force at a protest in Tehran on September 23. Shekari was sentenced to death on October 23, and executed by hanging on December 8, according to Mizan Online. It was the first execution connected to the protests to be publicly reported by state media.
2. UN Removes Iran From Women’s Rights Commission Due To Human Rights Violations
The United Nations voted to oust Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women because it “continuously undermines and increasingly suppresses the human rights of women and girls,’’ according to the resolution adopted on December 14. A majority of the 54 members of the U.N.’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted on a US-drafted resolution to expel Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remaining of its 2022-2026 elected term. A total of 29 countries elected to the Council voted in favor of expelling Iran. “There are few obviously right and wrong answers in diplomacy,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, said ahead of the vote. “But today – today – we have an opportunity to do something that is clearly the right thing to do.”
3. Senator Krysten Sinema Switches Parties From Democrat To Independent, Dealing A Major Blow To Demcoratic Senate Control
Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema is changing her party affiliation to independent, delivering a jolt to Democrats’ narrow majority and Washington along with it. In a 45-minute interview, the first-term senator said that she will not caucus with Republicans and suggested that she intends to vote the same way she has for four years in the Senate. “Nothing will change about my values or my behavior,” Senator Sinema said. Provided that Sinema sticks to that vow, Democrats will still have a workable Senate majority in the next Congress, though it will not exactly be the neat and tidy 51 seats they assumed. The Democrats expected to also have the votes to control Senate committees. And Sinema’s move means that Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), a pivotal swing vote in the 50-50 chamber the past two years, will hold onto some but not all of his outsized influence in the Democratic caucus.
4. US Approves Patriot Missle Transfer To Ukraine
The US is poised to approve sending its most advanced ground-based air defense system to Ukraine, responding to the country’s urgent request to help defend against an onslaught of Russian missile and drone attacks, two US officials said on December 13. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin could approve a directive as early as this week to transfer one Patriot battery already overseas to Ukraine, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Final approval would then rest with President Joe Biden.
