Britain-drafted UN human rights resolution on Iran ‘illegal, spiteful’: Ministry

"The Islamic Republic of Iran condemns the move by the British government and other founders of this resolution which is a clear example of abusing the transcendent concepts and values of human rights to advance shortsighted political motives and considers it devoid of any legal validity," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday, Press TV reported.

He added that Western countries are making efforts to continue their project of spreading Iranophobia and defaming Iran, emphasizing, "These states, which themselves have a long history of gross human rights violation – including the sales of weapons to authoritarian, occupying and aggressive regimes, have made human rights as a means to advance their own political aims and ambitions."

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that such "immoral and unjustified" moves would not only fail to promote human rights and garner global respect for them, but will merely fuel negative stereotypes and political labeling against nations, and has seriously tarnished the true meaning of human rights.

Khatibzadeh said the resolution extends the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who, in recent reports, has shown that he is acting based on the British, American and Zionist directives and is using the UN human rights mechanism as a plaything to achieve their vicious and illegal goals.

"As repeatedly emphasized, the appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights [situation in] a country like Iran is fundamentally unjustified and unconstructive," he added.

Despite the oppressive pressure of U.S. economic terrorism, the spokesman said, Iran has always lived up to its commitments to its citizens and the international community.

Khatibzadeh said Iran is a religious democratic system that takes steps to promote human rights at national, regional and international levels and is committed to observing the issue.

He emphasized that countries which violate nations' rights must be held accountable for their crimes committed in gross violation of human rights.

"Proponents of this [anti-Iran] resolution must first condemn the U.S. administration's measures such as economic terrorism and the intensification of unilateral and cruel sanctions and their destructive impacts on Iranians' access to basic needs, including medical equipment and items during the coronavirus pandemic," Khatibzadeh pointed out.

In a resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran, adopted by a vote of 19 in favor, 12 against and 16 abstentions as orally revised, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decided to extend the mandate of the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic for a further period of one year, and requested him to submit a report on the implementation of the mandate to the council at its 52nd session and to the UN General Assembly at its 77th session. It called upon Iran to cooperate fully with the special rapporteur to permit access to visit the country and to provide all information necessary to allow the fulfillment of the mandate.

Source: Iran Daily