UN Extends Mandate Of Iran Rights Monitor

Ahmed Shaheed

The United Nations has extended the mandate of its special rapporteur on human rights in Iran for another year.

The 47-member UN Human Rights Council voted a resolution to extend the mandate of Ahmed Shaheed.

Twenty-six members voted in favor, two -- Venezuela and Pakistan -- opposed it, and 19 abstained or didn’t vote.

The resolution calls on Tehran to cooperate with the probe in granting access to the country or information.

Iran's UN ambassador in Geneva, Seyed Mohammad Reza Sajjadi, described the resolution as "counterproductive" and "politicized."

Tehran has so far refused to let Shaheed, who was named Iran monitor in 2011, visit the country to assess the rights situation there.

In a report earlier this month, he spotlighted repression of freedom of speech, torture, forced confessions, secret executions, and other abuses.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters