14 May 2023 :
(May 13, 2023) - For the sake of completeness, we translate an article published in the official news agency of the Iranian government (IRNA, Islamic Republic News Agency) in which they welcome the appointment of an Iranian official to a position on the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, and ridicule opposition organizations in exile.
Iran presidency over UN forum last nail in coffin for opposition
The United Nation’s Human Rights Council on May 11 chose Iran to preside over its November 2023 Social Forum that aims to explore the role of science and technology in upgrading human rights. The UN’s rights body took the decision despite efforts ongoing over the past months by the Iranian opposition groups to highlight what they have described as human rights violations in the Islamic Republic.
The anti-Iran groups began those efforts following the breakout of unrest in Iran over the death of young woman Mahsa Amini in September 2022. From holding meetings with Western officials to organizing rallies and gatherings against Iran, those groups tried to isolate the Islamic Republic in the international arena, while pushing for more Western sanctions over alleged rights violations by Iran.
And the Human Rights Council’s appointment of Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Office in Geneva Ali Bahreini as the rotating president of its 2023 Social Forum exactly happened after all those measures against the Islamic Republic.
The move caused uproar among the anti-Iran groups and their Western backers, with some launching a petition to stop Iran’s presidency over the forum.
The US described Iran’s presidency of the forum as "deeply troubling", with the State Department’s Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel announcing on May 12 that his country would not attend the sessions of the group this year.
Anti-Iran groups like Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, the Baloch Activists Campaign, the Kurdistan Human Rights Association and Kurdpa Human Rights Organization were among the movements pushing for the petition, despite their record of human rights violations.
Back in 2020, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center received some $78,000 from the US government under an official contract. The Boroumand Center also has ties with the Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO), a terror group responsible for the death of tens of thousands of Iranian civilians over the past decades.
As part of its cooperation with the MKO, the center was engaged in attempts that led to the illegal arrest of Iranian national Hamid Nouri by the Swedish government over his alleged role in the execution of MKO members more than 30 years ago.
According to American media reports, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center had paid a British lawyer to launch investigations into the executions.
The other three groups, namely the Baloch Activists Campaign, the Kurdistan Human Rights Association and Kurdpa Human Rights Organization, are of no good record either as they are engaged in measures aimed at disintegration of Iran, despite claiming otherwise.
Now, the latest move by the UN Human Rights Council to choose Iran as the rotating president of its Social Forum marks the last nail in the coffin for the opposition groups that have been resorting to different means to isolate the Islamic Republic in the international arena over the past months.
https://en.irna.ir/news/85110506/Iran-presidency-over-UN-forum-last-nail-in-coffin-for-opposition
