The rights chief has said the recent UN report on human rights in Iran is a “repetition” of allegations made by opposition websites and leaders of some Western countries.
“One of the methods used by the West to present a false image of the countries that are not aligned with their interests is to repeat a lie in various forms using various means,” the Mehr news agency on Tuesday quoted High Council for Human Rights Secretary Mohammad Javad Larijani as saying.
In an annual report to the General Assembly on human rights in Iran, obtained by Reuters on Friday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claimed President Hassan Rouhani’s promises of greater freedoms for Iran had not resulted in any major improvements regarding human rights and freedom of expression.
“President Rouhani has pledged to decrease restrictions on freedom of expression and to ensure security for the press,” the report said.
“Unfortunately, those promises have not yet led to significant improvements, and restrictions on freedom of expression continue to affect many areas of life,” the report claimed.
The report also claimed, “Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities reportedly persists both in law and in practice.”
Ban Ki-moon also said Rouhani had not delivered on its promises in relation to Internet censorship.
Larijani said no one in Iran is opposed to modern technologies, but the government’s concern is to provide the least harmful access to information technology.
