Iran says UN human rights report lacks legal weight

TEHRAN,March 4(MNA) – Iran on Saturday criticized the most recent report of Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, calling it biased and undocumented. According to Reuters, in a report issued in Geneva on Thursday, Shaheed voiced concern at what he called an apparent rise in the frequency and gravity of abuses in Iran and claimed that the Islamic Republic had failed to investigate “widespread, systemic, and systematic violations of human rights.” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said that the report lacks legal weight, adding that such reports had endangered the credibility of the UN human rights mechanisms. The claims made by certain Western countries against Iran have been included in the report, Mehmanparast added. The UN Special Rapporteur has used the information provided by known terrorist groups and media outlets acting against the interests of the Iranian people, which are unreliable sources, to prepare his report, he said. Iran is committed to respecting the people’s fundamental rights and dignity based on the Constitution and the teachings of Islam, Mehmanparast said, adding that the Islamic Republic would continue to fulfill its commitments regardless of unconstructive reports published against the country.