FM: UN Rights Report "Unfair"

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi slammed a recent report by the new UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iran as "unfair" and "politically-motivated", saying the Islamic Republic does not recognize it.

Qasemi made the statements on Thursday in response to a 40-page report submitted by Asma Jahangir to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which has leveled various baseless accusations against Iran, Tasnim News Agency reported. The spokesman said the objective behind such a report is to present a negative image of Iran's human rights situation with the support of a few UN Human Rights Council member states.

"Many of the countries initiating and backing such an approach against the Islamic Republic of Iran at the Human Rights Council are suffering from numerous human rights problems and have a dark and inhumane rights record," he said. "This fact is a solid reason for the invalidity of the approach adopted against our country in Ms. Asma Jahangir's report."

Qasemi emphasized that the new UN rapporteur has turned a blind eye to Iran's achievements vis-à-vis human rights.

In comments on Saturday, Qasemi also categorically rejected the 2016 human rights report on Iran that the US Department of States released on March 3. "Due to its awful and dark human rights record, either inside that country [the US] or at the international level, the US government is in no position to comment on the status of human rights in other countries," he said.