Deputy FM criticizes Saudi regime membership in UNHRC

EghtesadOnline: An Iranian senior diplomat has commented on the election of Saudi Arabia as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), saying the election was the best indication of using human rights as an instrument in line with serving political interests.

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31 October 2016

The election has proved that human rights is an international tool solely for serving political interests, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said speaking to reporters here Sunday on the sidelines of a ceremony on the 71st anniversary of the UN establishment on October 24, 1945.

Referring to critical situation in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, Araqchi said the developments in those countries and some other places are good examples showing that the United Nations (UN) has not acted successfully.

The UN and Security Council could not reach the major aim of the body that is settlement of the peace and security in the international community, said Araqchi hoping that the UN would take positive steps towards the issue during the tenure of the new UN secretary general, reports IRNA.

About the visit of the European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to Iran on October 28, Araqchi said she planned to visit Iran and some other regional countries for holding talks with them on the issue of Syria.

The outcomes of her regional talks will be released after the end of her visits, he added.

Asked why Tehran is celebrating 71st anniversary of the UN establishment while the body has had a weak working record, Araqchi said the UN ineffectiveness does not mean that it should be ignored totally.

Anyway, the UN is the only place in which the member countries can show their will and express themselves and coordinate to reach their joint objectives, the Iranian diplomat said.

Although the UN has not been successful in dealing with crises in some critical places around the world, it has been able to either reach its aims or get close to them in some other places, he stressed.

The body, he added, has had good coordination in the dispatch of the humanitarian aid to the stricken areas as well as the issue of implementation of developmental plans.

'We cannot say that we don't need the UN,' he said, adding '…, but the body suffers from several weaknesses and incompetence.'

Turning to the re-election of Saudi Arabia as the UNHRC member and speculations that Iran has asked for that membership too, Araqchi said Tehran has not requested such a thing.

Saudi Arabia which has been known as a child-killer regime and is the one that does not show even the least respect for the women has surprisingly been elected as the UNHRC membership, Araqchi said, noting the election shows that the decisions being made in the UN are based on the political purposes.

Maybe, the only thing that is taken into consideration when dealing with human rights issues is the negligence on human rights' true standards, and this is why a country like Saudi Arabia enters the UN Human Rights Council while Iran as a democratic country witnesses resolutions, Araqchi concluded.