OTTAWA – Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, has lambasted Teheran’s refusal to allow Ahmad Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran to enter the country.
“This is the latest in a series of diplomatic snubs by Iranian authorities bent on undermining the UN’s work to promote and protect human rights,” Baird said in a statement Tuesday.
“Iran is making a mockery of its supposed commitment to the United Nations and the values its members are expected to share.”
Iran demands leadership roles like the vice-presidency of the UN General Assembly or a seat on the Commission on Population and Development. Yet, “it refuses to submit to the most basic of UN membership requirements, such as allowing access to independent international human rights observers (called rapporteurs),” Baird said.
“Canada again calls on Iran to observe without reservation its international human rights obligations in law and in practice.”
