Iran Rejects UN Report on Riots

Date: 05 July 2023 - 22:23

News ID: ۱۱۶۸۹۲

TEHRAN -- Iran on Wednesday rejected a report by a mission mandated by the United Nations over the 2022 riots in the country, saying the establishment of such a mission by the UN Human Rights Council has been “a politically-motivated and unjustified move.” Kazem Gharibabadi, the secretary general of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, made the remarks at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, following a report by a so-called fact-finding mission on alleged human rights violations in Iran during the handling of the riots that erupted in the country last September.

The report accused Iran of meting out “harsh punishments” on people suspected of involvement in “mass protests,” calling on the country to stop the executions of those sentenced to death in connection with the riots and release all those detained.
In response, Gharibabadi said the establishment of such a mechanism despite Iran acting responsibly during and after the riots is a case of double standard and hypocrisy.
“The very same countries that fomented the riots in Iran and of course later got caught in a similar situation provided such a mechanism,” he said.
Gharibabadi said what happened in Iran last fall was “not simple and peaceful gatherings”, but violent riots and terrorist attacks architected by think tanks in the West and carried out with the financial, arms and media support of West security services.
“During the riots, intelligence services of 20 countries were involved in fueling the unrest. Terrorists also entered the scene and close to 100 people affiliated with terrorist groups, mostly from the [Mujahedin Khalq Organization], were arrested,” he said.
The official said the U.S.-based social media network Instagram allowed users to teach people how to make smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails, and in Twitter over 50,000 fake Persian-language users were created during the first month of protest to spread anti-Iran propaganda.
He also said London-based TV channels, including BBC Persian and Iran International, allocated a huge part of their programs to inciting violence and providing terrorists with a platform.
He said Iran’s policy on the riots was to use minimum force against law-breakers and this resulted in law enforcement forces sustaining heavy casualties and damage.
“During the three months of riots, over 75 law enforcement forces and people were martyred by the rioters, and more than 7,000 law enforcement forces were also injured,” he said. “Also, over 2,100 public and private property, asset and facility worth 20,000 billion rials were vandalized by the rioters.”
Gharibabadi, however, said the plot against Iran was foiled thanks to massive popular support for the Islamic establishment, with the government quickly bringing the situation under control.
He said that back in early February Iran pardoned nearly all of those who had participated in the riots, excluding only a few rioters who had committed brutal crimes, and the government has also formed an independent committee addressing complaints by those impacted by the riots.
The Iranian official expressed hope that countries sponsoring the riots rectify their wrong policies and adopt realistic ones.
Gharibabadi further said Western states are not in a position to talk about the rights of women and children in Iran, while they themselves are violating the rights of women and children in their own countries.
He enumerated a number of crimes committed by certain countries against Iran, citing the role of Western states in providing former Iraqi regime with chemical weapons that were used in attacks against the Islamic Republic in 1980s, impacting thousands of Iranian women and children.
Gharibabadi also pointed to the “illegal and cruel” sanctions on Iran by Western countries, saying the bans have caused many Iranian women and children to suffer, slamming the punitive measures as a “crime against humanity.”