Iranian Commander Raps Colonialist Nature of UN

TEHRAN (FNA)- Commander of Iran's Basij (volunteer) forces Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi lambasted the United Nations for its colonialist structure, saying that the international body has lost its prestige among the world people.
"The United Nations is a colonial institution and a puppet of arrogant powers; and many of its decisions and subsidiary organs have no value for the people of the world," Naqdi said on Sunday.

The Iranian commander made the remarks following the recent appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

On June 17, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) named former Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed as its human rights investigator on Iran.

If the UN wants to investigate human rights, it had better start with the US itself where there are some 3 million prisoners and 6 million homeless people, Brig. Gen. Naqdi told the Islamic republic news agency.

In May, Amnesty International (AI) slammed the US for its indefinite detentions in Afghanistan and at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, as well as its flawed capital punishment system.

The organization's annual global human rights report pointed to the execution of 46 people over the past year in the US, in which the guilt of several of the defendants remained questionable. Some cases also included unclear proof of legal representation and mental impairment.

If the UN seeks to investigate human rights violations, it can consider Israel whose very existence and nature is against human rights, Naqdi further said.

He also called on the UN to take a clear stance regarding Israel and its human rights abuses.