TEHRAN – Iran calls the UN human rights resolution against itself politically motivated, unfair, and unjustified which is being approved under a pressure by the United States to deflect attention from the developments in the Middle East and North Africa.

The reaction came as the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday narrowly voted a U.S.-backed proposal for a special rapporteur for Iran.
“This resolution is unfair and unjustified and is completely political and it was approved under the pressure of the U.S. despite reluctance by certain countries,” Ramin Mehmanparast, spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, said.
Mehmanparast added, “With this resolution the U.S. is seeking to divert attentions from the violation of human rights in the West particularly this country (the United States.)”
The resolution is intended to put pressure on Iran and derail a periodic investigation of human rights in all countries, the spokesman explained.
Double standards
Mehmanparast said, ""U.S. policies both in deeds and words have always been contradictory and based on double standards, and the recent resolution clearly exemplifies such behavior.""
The proposal was narrowly approved with a 22-7 vote, with 14 nations abstaining. Four of the council's 47 nations did not participate.
In interviews with the Mehr News Agency two senior lawmakers also reacted to the adoption of the resolution against Tehran.
No legal validity
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said the resolution has no “legal validity”.
However, Boroujerdi said since the resolution is unjustified Tehran should not accept the rapporteur.
He said it is not the first time that such moves are taken against Iran and these are basically the result of Iran’s “independent policies.”
Political humor
Kazem Jalali, rapporteur of the Majlis committee, said the resolution seems more like a “political humor”
“This resolution is more like a political humor,” Jalali noted.
The resolution is a kind of “preemptive” move intended to deflect attention from the crimes against people in the region, Jalali said in an indirect reference to the brutal suppression of popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa