Iran Rejects UN Investigation into Repression of Protests

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani (AFP)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani (AFP)
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Iran Rejects UN Investigation into Repression of Protests

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani (AFP)
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani (AFP)

Iran rejected cooperation with the newly-appointed independent UN committee to investigate the country's repression and crackdown on anti-government protests.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that Iran would not cooperate with the political committee set up by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC)

He stressed that the hasty use of human rights mechanisms and adopting "political and instrumental" approaches toward such issues were "rejected" and failed to contribute to the human rights concept.

Kanaani indicated that Tehran "strongly protested against the interventionist and baseless statements of the German authorities."

The 47 member states of the UNHRC decided during an urgent meeting held at the initiative of Germany and Iceland to appoint a team of investigators to shed light on human rights violations during the protests crackdown in Iran.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk demanded Iran end its "excessive" use of force to quell the protests that erupted after the death of a young Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, while in the custody of the morality police.

In response to the UN move, Iran summoned the German ambassador to protest "interventionist" remarks by German officials and Berlin's key role in holding a UNHRC special session on Iran.

The official IRNA news agency reported that the German ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry after Berlin's initiative to hold the special meeting.

Kanaani said that Iran has evidence of the involvement of Western countries in the protests sweeping the nation.

He added: "We have specific information proving that the US, Western countries, and some US allies have had a role in the protests."

Iran did not announce an official death toll of the protesters.

However, Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that about 50 policemen were killed in the protests since September, in the first official death toll, without disclosing whether this number includes fatalities among the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or not.

Mahabad MP Jalal Mahmoudzadeh said earlier that 105 people were killed during the crackdown launched by the authorities to quell the protests.



Iran Says Direct Nuclear Talks with US Possible Under Suitable Conditions

 Cars drive on a motorway in southern Tehran on August 11, 2025. (AFP)
Cars drive on a motorway in southern Tehran on August 11, 2025. (AFP)
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Iran Says Direct Nuclear Talks with US Possible Under Suitable Conditions

 Cars drive on a motorway in southern Tehran on August 11, 2025. (AFP)
Cars drive on a motorway in southern Tehran on August 11, 2025. (AFP)

Iran could hold direct nuclear talks with the United States if conditions are suitable, first Vice President Mohammadreza Aref said on Tuesday, according to state media.

But he said US demands for Tehran to drop uranium enrichment entirely were "a joke".

A sixth round of talks between Tehran and Washington was suspended following Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.

Both powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, an accusation Tehran has rejected.

"Iran is ready for negotiations under equal conditions in order to safeguard its interests ... The country's stance is in the direction that people want and, should there be suitable conditions, we are even ready for direct talks," Aref said.

Previous rounds of negotiations, which started in April, were indirect, mediated by Oman. Washington says uranium enrichment in Iran constitutes a pathway to developing nuclear weapons and should be dropped.

On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian made a controversial statement in favor of resuming negotiations with the US regardless of current levels of distrust.

"You don’t want to talk? Well then, what do you want to do? Do you want to go to war? ... Going to talks does not mean we intend to surrender," he said, adding that such issues should not be "approached emotionally".

A senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Aziz Ghazanfari, reacting to Pezeshkian's comments on Monday, said foreign policy requires discretion, and careless statements by authorities can have serious consequences for the country.