Asma Jahangir, the UN special rapporteur on the Iran rights situation, said on Thursday that no change has been made in Iran during the past year, expressing her frustration with the high number of executions, especially among teenagers as well as the harassment of minorities.
She added that achieving a progress on the level of women rights is quite slow, expressing concerns over curbing the freedom of speech.
A day after submitting her report to the world body, Jahangir told reporters that torture was widespread in Iran and that some people were imprisoned for seeking justice.
Jahangir said she had not attempted to assess the impact of sanctions on human rights in Iran in her report because she had not been allowed to visit the country, which does not recognize her mandate.
On the level of minorities, the UN rapporteur pointed out that there are reports on arbitrary arrests, torture and prosecutions of Kurds, Arabs, Azerbaijanis and Baluch people.
Jahangir pointed out that executions are rising, highlighting that Iranian authorities executed four convicted individuals who have not reached the legal age yet. She also noted, in her report, the fact that more than 86 teenagers await their execution.
Jahangir welcomed positions of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on women's rights but at the same time mentioned that social media campaigns against the imposed restrictions on women indicate that the Iranian government still needs to take more procedures to fulfill its promises.
In a statement, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Kingdom's delegation to the UN in Geneva Dr. Khalid Manzalawi stated that there are no indicators that the Iranian regime is willing to address opposition of Ahvaz Arab and confiscating their Arab identity and civil rights. He added that Iran wants to distract the world from the disastrous condition of human rights there.
