Reactions to UN Special Rapporteur’s Presence in Iran; Do Not Strengthen Our Torturers

The UN special rapporteur, who traveled to Iran with the approval of the Islamic Republic, encouraged countries that have imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran, particularly the United States, to lift them during a press conference on Wednesday, May 18.
She said: “America has sanctioned all Iranian banks and there is no possibility of transferring money from Iran to the international banking network.”
Ms. Douhan, in another part of her remarks, referred to the difficulties created in obtaining loans and international assistance, part of which relates to the presence of Afghan refugees.
She warned that currently about half a million Afghan children live in Iran, but “even UN agencies cannot fulfill their commitments to assist Iran.”

However, civil activists and human rights advocates had different reactions to Douhan’s presence in Iran and her report:
Kiyan Samimi, Sedra Abdollahi, Jafar Azimzadeh, Giti Pourfazel, and Ahmadreza Haeri also wrote to her before her trip to Iran: “The Islamic Republic and its representatives who are speaking with you do not represent the majority of the Iranian people because their current position does not stem from a democratic mechanism. The non-democratic structure, systematic corruption, and governmental inefficiency have caused that more than forced unilateral sanctions, it is the Islamic Republic government itself and its institutions that have created economic pressure on people and flagrant and gross human rights violations in Iran.”
These civil activists warned Ms. Douhan that if during this trip she were “only seeking to meet with Islamic Republic officials and visit apparently civil organizations but government-created” entities, her credibility and that of the United Nations would be “tarnished” and “this non-transparent approach” would remain in the historical memory of the Iranian people and civil activists.

Reaction to this matter was also extensive among social media users, including one Twitter user who posted a thread saying: “The UN human rights special rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures received $200,000 from China to help the regime in whitewashing the ethnic cleansing of Uyghurs.”

Previously, Prince Reza Pahlavi, in response to this trip, while recalling the state of human rights violations in the country, wrote that the UN special rapporteur, instead of preparing to travel to Iran to gain political advantage, should pressure the Islamic Republic to immediately release activists who are on hunger strike in prison and whose health conditions are deteriorating, including Manouchehr Bakhtiari, Behnam Mousivand, and detained teachers.

Hossein Ronaghi, a human rights activist, also wrote in a note published in the Wall Street Journal coinciding with Douhan’s presence in Iran: “If America removes the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from the list of terrorist organizations, it would both sacrifice its own national security and betray the Iranian people.” He also tweeted: “This is our message from inside Iran: Do not strengthen our torturers, do not surrender to those who have enslaved us. Otherwise, while sacrificing your own national security, you betray the Iranian people.”

Douhan’s trip to Iran took place while the Islamic Republic has consistently rejected requests from the “UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran” for a similar visit.
The last time special rapporteurs on human rights before Ms. Douhan succeeded in traveling to Iran was in 2005 when the special rapporteur on violence against women and the special rapporteur on housing traveled to Tehran.

Source: Voice of America