Chairman of the Human Rights Faction of Parliament: We Do Not Have a Problem Called Human Rights

The Chairman of the Human Rights Faction of the Iranian Parliament reacted to statements made by Ahmad Shahid, the UN Special Rapporteur, stating that "we do not have a problem called human rights as these individuals claim." According to the House of Parliament News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Ezzatollah Youssefian Molla emphasized on Friday, November 8, that there is "no problem" in implementing human rights in Iran, while also announcing that the Islamic Republic has "never negotiated and will never negotiate" on human rights. He described Ahmad Shahid's reports as "stereotypical and pre-designed" and emphasized that "individuals who have fled the country and have terrorism-related cases" are the source of these reports. Ahmad Shahid, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, criticized the increasing number of executions in Iran, ongoing restrictions on freedom of expression, and pressure on religious and ethnic minorities and discrimination against women in his report to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, November 5. The day before presenting his report, he stated that last month he managed to meet "for the first time" in Geneva, Switzerland, with several members of the Iranian security and judicial apparatus. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, the "response" of these individuals to his current report on human rights in Iran has been "the most fundamental response in the past four and a half years." Kazem Gharibabadi, the Deputy for Human Rights of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic, on Tuesday, November 5, confirmed Mr. Shahid's statements regarding the meeting with Iranian officials but did not consider these discussions to be a "new subject." He also asked the UN Special Rapporteur to refrain from repeating his "baseless accusations." Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Larijani, the Secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary of Iran, on November 6, called Ahmad Shahid's reports a "collection of unfounded accusations," claiming they were "gathered from sources tainted with terrorism and with various affiliations and presented as a document." According to the IRIB News Agency, he referred to Mr. Shahid's interviews and labeled him as a "media actor," adding that "the terrorist groups with whom this special rapporteur daily interacts are presented as human rights activists, and their statements are published in this regard." Mr. Larijani emphasized that "these issues are a collection that has caused Iran to reject the appointment of the special rapporteur and pay no attention to his reports." Mohammad Javad Larijani had previously addressed Ahmad Shahid with terms such as "Ahmad the Malicious," "ignorant," and "biased."