Iran slams Canada-drafted UN resolution as political exploitation of human rights
Iran has rejected a Canadian-proposed resolution approved by the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic, condemning it as an example of exploiting human rights to advance political goals.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani on Thursday said the resolution, which was drafted by Canada with the backing of some Western countries, was a mere repetition of “baseless accusations” leveled against Iran based on “misinformation” and “dishonest generalizations.”
The “one-sided” and “unrealistic” resolution thus lacks legitimacy and is categorically rejected, Kan’ani added.
“The move by the Canadian government and other supporters of the resolution is a clear example of misusing sublime concepts and values of human rights in order to advance short-sighted political goals,” he said.
“Such unconstructive measures will not only fail to help improve the human rights situation at a global level, but will lead to constant recourse to negative stereotyping and political labeling against independent countries,” he added.
Pointing to the Western countries’ attempts to spread Iranophobia and defame Iran, he said such states, which have a long record of systematic human rights violations, are not in a position to make recommendations on human rights to the Iranian government and nation.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is based on religious democracy and has always been very serious about promoting human rights and fulfilling its [relevant] international obligations,” Kan’ani said, expressing Tehran’s readiness to “engage in dialog and constructive cooperation based on its lofty principles in order to improve the human rights position in the world.”
Such dialog should be based on “mutual respect, equality, justice and fairness,” free from political purposes, and within the framework of all legitimate international mechanisms aimed at improving and supporting human rights, the Iranian spokesperson said.
The General Assembly’s Third Committee on Wednesday approved the draft resolution titled “Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran” by a vote of 80 in favor to 28 against, with 68 abstentions.
The draft resolution was proposed by the Canadian government over claims of a violent “crackdown” of protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman in police custody.
Since mid-September, several Iranian cities have witnessed riots, which erupted amid protests over the death of 22-year-old Amini who fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later in hospital.
Many initially blamed police for the incident, but an official report by Iran’s forensic authority concluded later that Amini’s death was caused by illness rather than alleged blows to the head or other vital body organs.
Using the protests as a cover, rioters and thugs — many of them later found to have links with foreign parties — went on a rampage, engaging in brutally attacks on security officers, vandalism, desecration of sanctities, and false-flag killings of civilians to incriminate the Iranian police.
Iran’s security apparatus clearly draws a line between peaceful protests and violent riots that threaten lives and cause harm to public and private property.
Late last month, Iran’s main intelligence bodies reported multiple aspects of the role played by the US — backed by the UK, Saudi Arabia, Israel and other allies — in devising a multi-dimensional plot for instigating riots in the Islamic Republic and directing the wave of violence.
002
