U.S. annual human rights report not legitimate: spokesman

TEHRAN (IRNA) - Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi here on Sunday refuted the annual report issued by the U.S. State Department on Iran and said such repeated and baseless accusations lack legitimacy.

Referring to wide-scale violation of human rights and civic and religious freedoms in the U.S. particularly in the wake of the September 11 incident, he said the U.S. itself is on top of the list of countries violating human rights worldwide and so it is not eligible to comment on other countries.

The Islamic Republic of Iran abides by its principles on human rights issues, he said adding, “We advise the new U.S. administration to avoid making mistakes and instead focus on the poor status of human rights in its own country, CIA secret cells around the globe, CIA secret flights over Europe for torture of those accused of terrorism and the status of Guantanamo and Bagram prisons, be accountable to world public opinion and remove relevant concerns.”

-----Tehran assessing stands taken by Canadian premier

Qashqavi said that Tehran is now assessing the accuracy of reports on recent stands taken by the Canadian premier.

Qashqavi made the remark in response to a question on recent allegations quoted by Wall Street Journal on stands taken by the Canadian premier against. He said “We are now evaluating the accuracy of the news.”

“If such illogical and baseless comments attributed to a Canadian official are substantiated through legal channels, then the Islamic Republic of Iran will show a proper reaction to such allegations,” he said.

“We are waiting to hear reaction of Canadian officials to this end and believe that the Canadian officials are wise enough not to make such baseless and non-diplomatic comments,” Qashqavi said.

   Print Version     |        Back    |     Send To Friend