A member of the permanent mission to the United Nations in New York said a recent report by a UN human rights investigator on Iran is "unfair" and "politically motivated."
The diplomat said, "The report ignores realities in the Islamic Republic and echoes the political whims of certain countries," IRNA reported on Wednesday.
In his latest report to the world body on Tuesday, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, claimed executions in Iran have sharply increased since President Hassan Rouhani's election last year. He also alleged that torture is used in prisons, the situation of women has deteriorated and religious minorities are persecuted, Reuters reported.
In response, Iran's envoy Forouzandeh Vadiati told the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, which focuses on human rights, that the investigator's allegations were aimed at inciting "Iranophobia and Islamophobia."
She said Shaheed's criticisms were encouraged by "certain countries' foreign policies" and "the final gain that they aim to achieve is to enhance their project of Iranophobia and Islamophobia."
Vadiati also rejected the idea that the situation of women in Iran has deteriorated.
Shaheed's report said the number of women enrolled at Iranian universities has decreased to 48 percent in 2013-2014 from 62 percent in 2007-2008.
"Laws, policies and practices that discriminate against Iranian women and girls continue to institutionalize their second-class status," Shaheed claimed.
Vadiati denied that there were problems for Iranian women.
"As an Iranian woman I never experienced such allegations as raised by the special rapporteur," she said. She also dismissed the idea that torture was used in Iran, noting that it is illegal under Iranian law.
Iranian officials on numerous occasions have criticized the UN reports on the human rights situation in Iran as "biased" and "one-sided". They have also said Shaheed's negative reports on Iran are partly due to his misunderstanding and poor knowledge of Iran's judicial system and process as well as Islamic law.
