Iran says UN's decision to appoint special human rights monitor is “biased and unfair”

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has described Washington's resolution on Iran's human rights conditions as “biased and unfair”. On Thursday 24th March, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) voted for the appointment of a special investigator to monitor abuses in the Islamic Republic for the first time since 2002.

The motion was passed after 22 members voted in favour, 14 abstained and seven, including China, Russia and Cuba, voted against. Speaking of the UN's decision, Mehmanparast said the resolution was adopted under pressure from the US.

He said: "The aim of the resolution was to put pressure on the Islamic Republic and to further side track the current process of the UN Human Rights Council' periodic review of the human rights situation across the world.”

The White House welcomed the move, with President Barack Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon saying it is "a historic milestone that reaffirms the global consensus and alarm about the dismal state of human rights in Iran."

Sources: AFP, AP, Reuters, Fars News Agency

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