Islamic Republic Condemns Recent U.S. State Department Report on Human Rights Violations in Iran

The Islamic Republic condemned the recent U.S. State Department report criticizing human rights violations and the suppression of freedom of expression in Iran. Hamid Reza Asefi, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated that the United States lacks the authority to comment on human rights issues. He accused Washington of committing crimes in Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territories, and elsewhere in the world. He also mentioned that the concepts of humanity and rights from the U.S. perspective differ from those in other parts of the world. The U.S. report, published in 16 pages on Friday, claims that Iran's unelected leaders suppress demands for freedom and seek to eliminate dissenters. The State Department pointed to repressive actions such as the closure of up to 85 newspapers, the persecution of Baha'i community members, and the stifling of the political freedom movement. Two Iranians were also mentioned for their contributions to human rights issues: Zahra Kazemi, an Iranian-Canadian journalist and photographer who died in police custody in 2003, and Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights advocate, who was praised for her work. The U.S. State Department report also states that young Iranians who held widespread pro-reform protests are representatives of hope for Iran's future.