Iran warns of threat posed by takfiri terrorists to women

Iran’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations (UN) has warned about the threat posed by violent extremism to women in the Middle East.

“The spread of violent extremism and the Takfiri ideology threatens the lives and rights of women in the region in an unprecedented manner,” Gholam-Hossein Dehqani told a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting on Friday.

“Conflicts in the Middle East region have assumed new dimensions and resulted in women falling victim to terrorism and extremist violence in parts of the region,” he added.

The Iranian envoy said women and girls have turned into targets for terrorist groups and extremists in parts of the region and are subjected to rape and sexual slavery.

Dehqani also cautioned that the dangerous Takfiri ideology would not remain confined to the region and would spread to other parts of the world as well.

The UNSC is holding a series of open debates in the run-up to the 15th anniversary of the adoption of Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The resolution was passed unanimously on October 31, 2000 to address abuses against women during armed conflict, including sexual violence and displacement, and to ensure more conflict prevention and peace for women.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addressed one such debate, saying more needed to be done to combat extremists, namely those who target women and girls.

The Daesh terrorist group, which follows a Takfiri ideology, has overrun about a third of Iraq and Syria and is making inroads into Afghanistan and other countries.

In August 2014, Daesh extremists attacked areas in northern Iraq, which are home to many of the Arab country’s minorities. According to figures released by Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, the Daesh assault killed 1,280 people from the Izadi community, a Kurdish religious one. Daesh forced females from the community into sexual slavery.

Similarly, Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to Daesh, a Nigerian Takfiri group, began staging terror attacks across Nigeria in 2009. In the most widely-reported instance of violence against females, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 girls from a secondary school in Borno state in northeastern Nigeria. Fifty-seven of the girls managed to escape, but 219 remain in captivity.