Tehran slams UN rights council for establishing fact-finding mission on Iran protests

By Haydar Sahin

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - Iran on Thursday slammed the adoption of a resolution by the UN Human Rights Council for the establishment of a fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights violations in the country related to protests that began on Sept. 16.

"The regime in Berlin, as the main provider of CWs (chemical weapons) to Saddam, and other opportunists have conducted massive HR (human rights) violations through unjust & inhumane sanctions," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Twitter, referring to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Amir-Abdollahian claimed that human rights mechanisms are being abused to "perpetrate more HR violations, all in the name of a farce 'solidarity' with Iranians."

"Even worse and more shameful, they're doing this for cheap domestic games. Iran, as a strong and stable country, is fully committed to human rights but won't allow foreign meddling in its internal affairs," he added.

Earlier Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council voted to establish an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate alleged human rights violations in Iran related to protests.

The council adopted the resolution with 25 votes in favor, six against and 16 abstentions.

The resolution, put forward by Germany and Iceland, calls on Iran to end "discrimination and violence against women and girls in public and private life and in law, and in practice and to uphold all human rights."

Those include the right to freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, association, and freedom of religion or belief.

Iran has been roiled by deadly protests since September after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian woman named Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic dress code.

Amini died in police custody, with the government blaming her death on a health condition, an explanation that has been roundly rejected by her family and demonstrators, who maintained she was murdered by police.