Iran said on Wednesday a UN resolution on the country's human rights records is "hostile" and "politically motivated".
Ambassador to the United Nations Hossein Dehqani also called the resolution "unreliable" and "inaccurate" and criticized the committee "for adopting country-specific resolutions," adding that it will undermine the UN credibility and reinforce the view that the world body is the follower of certain countries, IRNA reported.
"Such resolutions not only do not help promoting human rights in the targeted countries but also cause difficulties in their cooperation with the United Nations."
"These resolutions violate the UN impartiality in human rights issues and provide certain countries with fodder to pursue their own political aims and settle scores with other countries," he said.
The UN General Assembly’s committee handling human rights on Tuesday adopted a Canada-drafted resolution criticizing Iran for alleged "alarming high frequency and increase in the death penalty, widespread restrictions on basic freedoms and worsening discrimination and persecution of women and minorities" in the country.
The non-binding resolution follows a report by the UN rights investigator Ahmed Shaheed, claiming 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.
Canada’s proposed revised text of the annual resolution was adopted with 78 votes in favor. Russia, China, Syria and North Korea voted against the resolution.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Marzieh Afkham also condemned the UN resolution and said, "A number of Western countries take advantage of the human rights issue as a tool to pursue political objectives," IRNA reported.
Afkham said the UN resolution has been compiled based on false information provided by notorious terrorist groups and "is full of baseless, fabricated and false claims," a fact that brings its credibility and legal validity into question.
