Iran welcomes vist of UN human rights chief

Mohammad Javad Larijani

Iran announced it will welcome a visit by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, head of Iranian judiciary’s Human Rights Headquarters in a meeting with Livia Leu Agosti, Swiss ambassador to Tehran declared that Iran is fully prepared to respond to any questions regarding the situation of human rights in Iran.

IRNA state news agency reports that at the meeting Larijani emphasized that Iran’s judiciary is managed with utter “transparency and professionalism.”

He reportedly went on to say that if European Union changes its human rights policies, Iran may also take “new steps” in this regard.

Larijani criticized the West’s “selective and political” use of human rights issues vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic.

Iran has repeatedly accused the West of having “double standards” regarding human rights issues in the world.

Islamic Republic authorities had long declined requests from International bodies to visit Iran in order to observe the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic.

This is the first time that in recent years Iran has agreed to such a visit.

Last month Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, announced that she will visit Iran next year.

A number of Iranian human rights activists including Nobel Peace Laureate, Shirin Ebadi, had urged the United Nations to send UN representative to Iran in order to probe into the situation of human rights in Iran.