Iran not to allow West to divert states’ minds: Official

New York, IRNA – Deputy chief of the Iranian Judiciary and secretary of the High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi has emphasized that his trip to New York is aimed at hindering the circulation of hostile and fake narratives by the West and the US on recent developments in Iran. Gharibabadi also told Iranian reporters in New York on Saturday that he plans to provide the public opinion with a correct narrative of the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and point out the destructive role of certain states in the recent unrest. The Iranian official takes part in meetings of the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee and holds bilateral and multilateral talks with representatives from other nations. Today, the issue of human rights has turned into a political issue, he said, adding that the so-called flag-bearers of human rights, such as the Western governments especially the US, violate human rights inside their own countries, so they are not qualified to portray themselves as supporters of human rights. Following the recent riots in Iran, those states claimed that they are supporting human rights, while in fact, the lives of millions of the Iranian people have been affected by unilateral and illegal sanctions of the United States and the Europeans implemented the embargo, he argued. Some 17,000 Iranians have been martyred by the terrorists, who are residing in the US and some European countries, so how can these states allege they are backing human rights? He went on to say that he had had consultations with different groups from several countries as well as officials of the United Nations in order to provide them with a precise account of the developments in Iran and the exact situation of human rights as well as the destructive role of certain countries in the recent unrest, adding that Iran will not let false and hostile narrative by the Western states and the US divert the minds of other countries. Iran has arrested more than 50 elements affiliated with the terrorist group of the MKO as well as 80 terrorists from different Kurdish groups and five terrorists of the Daesh group, he noted. Ruling out some reports on the imprisonment of 14,000 people in Iran, he said that more than 90% of the arrested people were freed within two or three days. The enemies initiated hybrid warfare against the Islamic Republic, he said, adding that they resorted to international organizations in order to put pressure on Iran and pursue their own political agenda. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEgnlish