MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Iran has declined the visit of UN human rights rapporteur, Ahmed Shaheed to Iran due to his biased reports against the Islamic Republic, the Secretary of Iran's High Council for Human Rights said.
"This is why we have expressed strong opposition to his trip to Iran, his appointment to the post and his methods, and we have clarified the issue to the world," the official said adding that Ahmed Shaheed has become a puppet in the hands of Iran's enemies to spread anti-Iranian accusations, Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Mohammad Javad Larijani as saying in an interview with Iranian television channel IRIB TV 3.
Larijani claimed in an interview on Thursday night, that Iran is open to visits by independent rapporteurs, but Shaheed's biased reports on Iran's abuse of human rights is in itself a violation of human rights, Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Larijani states that Shaheed's report pieces together various allegations against Iran from anonymous sources which have likely been taken from anti-Iran websites. Therefore, according to the official, the report is invalid.
Shaheed's most recent report in March accused Iran of unlawful executions, arrests of journalists and forced confessions, in addition to failing to provide religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities their basic rights.
The UN Human Rights Council appointed former Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed as human rights investigator for Iran on June 17, 2011. Larijani argues Shaheed was appointed by the council under pressure from countries such as the United States, Britain and Canada and called the investigator a defender of terrorists in Iran.
