Experts in Geneva to Defend Rights Record

Tehran is to declare its official position on the recent report by UN human rights envoy on Iran during the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Council underway in Geneva. Kazem Gharibabadi, the deputy head of Iran's High Council for Human Rights for International Affairs, made the statement in Geneva on Sunday, Fars News Agency reported. The official said the Iranian delegation will start its activities in the third week of the Human Rights Council's conference and the head of the delegation will declare Iran's stance on the recent report by Ms. Asma Jahangir, special rapporteur on human rights in Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry had earlier deplored Jahangir's report as "unfair and politically-tainted", stressing that Tehran does not recognize it. "As announced several times, the Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognize the report prepared by the special rapporteur who has been appointed based on a politically-tainted and selective resolution of certain countries," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said on Thursday.