Iran's Reaction to Ban Ki-moon's Human Rights Report: We Consider It Unjust and Unreliable

Iran's Foreign Ministry reacted to the UN Secretary-General's report on the human rights situation in Iran, deeming it 'unjust,' 'unreliable,' and containing 'fundamental flaws.' According to the IRNA news agency, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated on Wednesday, October 6, that 'the most important and serious fundamental flaw of the report is that the text was prepared based on a cruel, unjust, and entirely political resolution with specific objectives.' These remarks are a response to Ban Ki-moon's report, published on Tuesday, which accused Iranian officials of human rights violations. Qasemi claimed that the purpose of this report was to 'apply pressure on Iran' and 'specific political exploitations by some countries against the Islamic Republic of Iran.' He also pointed out the 'use of unspecified, unreliable, and untrustworthy information sources' in the preparation of this report, which he said confirms its 'unreliability.' He added, 'This report presents an unjust, one-sided, and incorrect judgment of the human rights situation in Iran and has missed the opportunity for an impartial, fair, and fact-based assessment and analysis.' Bahram Qasemi also considered the methods and approaches of the United Nations to be based on 'double standards' and accused this international body of 'instrumentalizing' the issue of human rights. In his recent report, Ban Ki-moon criticized the number of executions in Iran, stating that most of these executions follow very short trials that do not meet international standards. The execution of drug offenders and the execution of underage offenders were also criticized in this report. The detention of journalists, the state of freedom of expression, the detention of civil activists, women's rights, the situation of ethnic and religious minorities, and 'inhumane treatment' of detainees were other issues criticized by the UN Secretary-General in his report. Ban Ki-moon had also made severe criticisms regarding the performance of the Islamic Republic officials in his annual human rights report on Iran last year. Iranian officials have repeatedly accused the United Nations in recent years of 'instrumentalizing and politicizing' the issue of human rights in Iran.