UN Human Rights Resolution Denounced as ‘Political Charade’

Iran denounced a United Nations draft resolution that accuses it of human rights violations, stressing that the measure’s sponsors are playing a “political charade”.
The resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly’s Human Rights Committee was approved on Thursday in a vote of 85-30, with 68 abstentions. This means the resolution will most probably be approved by the 193-member world body when it comes up for voting next month.
Speaking ahead of voting on the Canadian-drafted resolution, Iran’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Es’haq Al-e Habib, said the countries sponsoring the measure have done everything in their power to “suppress or derail” Iranian people’s “century-long struggle … for the causes of human rights and democracy”, Press TV reported. 
“Orchestrating a military coup in 1953 against a democratically-elected government, unconditionally supporting a despotic ruler for the following two and a half decades, supporting a war of aggression against Iranians during the 1980s, providing chemical weapons and reconnaissance to [former Iraqi dictator] Saddam to target Iranians, shooting down an Iranian passenger flight and murdering all of its 290 passengers, colluding with notorious terrorist cults and waging a full-fledged economic war against Iranians in defiance of Security Council Resolution 2231,” he said.
The senior diplomat said “the biggest enemies” of human rights and democracy are “those who conveniently abuse them against the nations and governments they dislike.”

Sanctions of Mass Destruction’

Blasting the West for imposing unilateral sanctions against Iran, Al-e Habib said such “sanctions of mass destruction” had killed more people around the world than all of the weapons of mass destruction “put together throughout history”.
“Weaponizing food and medicine against civilians has no other designation but crime against humanity,” he said. “Apparently, for self-proclaimed champions of human rights to reach their political objectives, even a whole nation can be murdered.”
The Iranian envoy said Canada insists on this futile resolution notwithstanding the fact that Israel, the last existing apartheid regime of the world, is one of its constant co-sponsors. 
The diplomat said the Iranian nation, despite being under constant economic pressure from the US and its allies, will continue to promote and protect human rights.
Admitting that there might have been “deficiencies” in its implementation of human rights, the Iranian envoy said the country is “determined to address them”.
“However, it is not for those who traditionally, historically and practically supported colonialism, slavery, racism and apartheid to lecture Iranians on human rights,” he said.
Al-e Habib accused sponsors of the resolution of running a “political charade” by threatening smaller countries to withdraw aid in order to reap votes.
“Please remember that unlike those few who have historically abused human rights as instruments in their foreign policy toolbox, Iran continues to earnestly believe in dialogue based on mutual understanding, cooperation and respect,” he concluded.