Iran summons German envoy over UN rights council resolution

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran on Monday summoned the German ambassador in Tehran over a recent anti-Iran resolution at the UN Human Rights Council as well as "meddlesome" remarks by German officials.

In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said Hans-Udo Muzel was summoned to protest the resolution, terming it a "wrong step" and "based on a political approach to human rights".

The German envoy was also told that Iran will not cooperate with any mechanism based on the resolution, including the UN human rights body's fact-finding mission.

On Thursday, the UN Human Rights Council condemned what it called the "repression of peaceful demonstrations" in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

With 25 votes in favor, 6 against and 16 abstentions, the UN rights body agreed to form an international fact-finding mission to probe Iran's response to sweeping protests that have rocked the country in recent months.

The special session of the rights council to discuss the human rights situation in Iran was requested by Germany and Iceland with the support of 50 countries.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged the UN member countries to back the international fact-finding mission to ensure "those responsible can be held to account".

"If we don't collect the evidence today, if we don't support this resolution, justice will never come to the victims," Baerbock said.

In response, Khadijeh Karimi, who represented Iran at the Council meeting, said the US and Europe "lack the moral credibility to preach human rights and to request a special session on Iran."

Speaking in a weekly presser on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani criticized the special session of the UN rights body, saying such actions "do not help to promote human rights".

He said Iran rejects the "hasty use of human rights mechanisms" as well as the "political approach" of the UN Human Rights Council, reiterating that it will not cooperate with the fact-finding mission.

Iran has been swept by massive protests since mid-September over Amini's death. Thousands of people have been arrested and so far six people have been sentenced to death in preliminary verdicts.

Iran has blamed the US and European countries, including Germany, for fueling what it calls "riots" in the country, which have also seen a spate of fatal attacks on policemen in recent weeks.

Pertinently, it is the third time the German ambassador has been summoned by Iran in the past few months. Many other foreign ambassadors in Tehran have also got summons amid protests.