TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran on Wednesday rejected a U.S. religious freedom report critical of Tehran as "hypocritical", coming from a country where Islamophobia is widespread.
Washington released its annual religious freedom report on Tuesday, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson criticizing Bahrain, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey.
"Iran considers it an unrealistic, baseless, unfounded and biased report which has only been made with the intention of certain political gains," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said.
"The report has once again presented a distorted and political image of the religious freedom situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, making wrong allegations, and is undoubtedly unacceptable and rejected,” he said.
He said Washington should focus on improving its own record of discrimination, particularly regarding its Muslim population.
"It is clear that religious and racial discrimination, Islamophobia, and xenophobia are a widespread and frequent phenomenon among American politicians," said Qasemi.
"Muslims in America face violent and discriminating actions on a daily basis by state bodies like the police and security forces."
He touched on the principle of religious freedom enshrined in the Iranian Constitution, saying to address religious grievances, it is necessary to avoid a politicization of the issue and respect followers of all divine religions.
"The U.S. government is expected to take legal and practical measures as soon as possible to protect the freedom of religion, and particularly make sure that Muslim rights are respected in the United States, instead of passing judgment on the status of freedom of religion in other countries,” he said.