Iran’s UN envoy: New human rights report part of ‘maximum pressure’ against Iranians

Iran’s representative to UN General Assembly’s Third Committee, Mohammad Zare’iyan, says a new report by the UN rights rapporteur on the human rights situation in country is part of the US ‘maximum pressure’ strategy and aims to mount pressure on Iranian people.

“Those who have drawn up this report, have manipulated human rights issues against my government to distort our realities through use of incorrect information. It is not secret that taking advantage of the ‘so-called human rights issues is part of the US ‘maximum pressure’ strategy against Iranians,” Iran’s UN representative said.

His remarks came after Iran released a detailed report earlier the same day, strongly rejecting the recent report on the situation of human rights in the country, mentioning fundamental and structural weaknesses and shortcomings in the report prepared by the UN special rapporteur.

The review of the human rights situation in Iran was put on the agenda at the 43rd session of the Human Rights Council dated June 22, 2020, during which Sweden proposed a resolution extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran with support of other Western countries.

Iran’s rights authorities, in a report released on Monday, strongly refuted the measure and the Sweden-drafted resolution mentioning a number of fundamental shortcomings in the report.

Iran said the Special Rapporteur is specifically "submitting a report on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran," but underlined that from a logical perspective, this report should have covered, both positive and negative aspects of the human rights situation.

“Unfortunately, the report focuses entirely on the negative cases and ignores the efforts, measures and actions which resulted in the promotion of the human rights situation in Iran.”

Iran has also argued that the report is based on false information received from some terrorist sects and groups that have a dark history of killing thousands of innocent Iranians, and presently try every possible course of animosity against the Iranian people and alliance with the enemies,leaves no room for the "Special Rapporteur to claim neutrality."

New US sanctions on Iran ‘terrorist, cruel’ effort to prevent medicine, food purchases amid COVID-19: Rouhani

Washington, the Iranian president said, acts in line with its political objectives and propagating efforts which have domestic purposes.

“It is important to note that not only is the content of the recent report of the Special Rapporteur was based on the information and reports received from the terrorist groups affiliated with hostile governments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including delusive allegations and unsubstantiated allegations, rather, the main text of the report is prepared with the provisions of these allegations and accusations, and wherever the Special Rapporteur wished, he cited the official views of the Iranian side, at the end of each issue and specified the "opinion of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Iran further said, “Surprisingly, in the report of the Special Rapporteur on Iran, there is no single trace of and reference to tens of innocent children and hundreds of innocent patients who died due to the difficulty of accessing necessary medicine and medical equipment due to the imposition of cruel, illegal and criminal sanctions by the US regime.”

“The politicized and inhumane approach injected in the recent report is to the extent that, firstly, implicitly justifies and legitimizes the illegal, oppressive and criminal US sanctions, and in a seemingly humanitarian position calls on the countries who have carryout the illegal, oppressive and criminal sanctions against the Iranian people,” it added.

US pressure campaign against Iran ‘example of state terrorism’: Envoy to UN

The Iranian envoy to the United Nations (UN) has lambasted the so-called US maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic as an “example of state terrorism” aimed at creating suffering and social unrest in the country.

Iran has concluded its response to the UN rights rapporteur’s report by shortlisting the country’s achievements with regard to promoting human rights norms, including:

- Increase in the employment rate and participation of more than 40% of women in the country's economy and holding senior management positions.

- Implementation of the "Health System Transformation Plan" and guarantee for public access to health services, payment of monthly cash subsidies to low-income families and launching of arrangements for implementation of the subsidy plan for purchase of basic goods for 60 million people, poverty alleviation and development of rural low-income areas, in the field of the right to health and the eradication of poverty.

- Hosting about 3 million Afghan refugees, free education of about 470,000 Afghan students in Iranian schools, about 128 thousand of whom do not have a permit to be present in Iran.

- Active participation of minority groups in all political, social, economic and cultural sections of the country (having a fixed quota in the Islamic Consultative Assembly), in the field of minority rights.

- Approval of the law on political offense and its implementation after the announcement of its bylaws by the Head of the Judiciary.

- Introduction of a change in the judicial system of the country, especially within the framework of the law of “the Sixth Development Plan.”

- Improving the situation of prisons, developing the necessary infrastructure in cooperation with non-governmental and public organizations, and helping to reduce the number of criminals by ten percent, annually.

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