Reactions to the presence of the UN Special Rapporteur in Iran: Do not empower our torturers

The UN Special Rapporteur, who traveled to Iran with the Islamic Republic's consent, urged countries that have imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran, especially the United States, in a press conference on Wednesday, May 19, to lift them.
He said: "The US has sanctioned all Iranian banks and it is not possible to transfer money from Iran to the international banking network."
In another part of her speech, Ms. Dohan referred to the difficulties created in obtaining loans and international aid, part of which is related to the presence of Afghan refugees.
He warned that there are currently about half a million Afghan children living in Iran, but "even UN agencies cannot fulfill their commitments to help Iran."

But civil society and human rights activists had different reactions to Doohan's presence in Iran and his report:
Keyvan Samimi, Sadra Abdollahi, Jafar Azimzadeh, Giti Pourfazel, and Ahmadreza Haeri also wrote to Dohan in a letter before his trip to Iran: "The Islamic Republic and its representatives who are talking to you are not representatives of the majority of the Iranian people because their current position is not the result of a democratic mechanism. The undemocratic structure, systematic corruption, and also the inefficiency of the government have caused that, more than unilateral coercive sanctions, it is the government of the Islamic Republic itself and its institutions that have created economic pressure on the people and blatant and gross violations of human rights in Iran."
These civil activists warned Ms. Doohan that if she "only seeks to meet with agents of the Islamic Republic and meet with seemingly civil but state-made institutions" during this trip, her credibility and that of the United Nations would be "questioned," "and this opaque approach" would remain in the historical memory of the Iranian people and civil activists.

There was a lot of reaction among social media users, including one Twitter user who posted a series of tweets: "The UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral repressive measures received $200,000 from China to help the regime whitewash the ethnic cleansing of the Uyghur people."

Earlier, Prince Reza Pahlavi, in response to this visit, recalled the situation of human rights violations in the country and wrote that instead of preparing to travel to Iran to gain political advantage, the UN Special Rapporteur should pressure the Islamic Republic to immediately release activists who are on hunger strike in prison and whose health condition is deteriorating, including Manouchehr Bakhtiari, Behnam Musivand, and the detained teachers.

Human rights activist Hossein Ronaghi also wrote in a note published in the Wall Street Journal at the same time as Doohan was in Iran: “If the US removes the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of terrorist organizations, it will sacrifice both its national security and betray the Iranian people.” He also tweeted: “This is our message from inside Iran: Do not empower our torturers, do not surrender to those who have taken us captive. Otherwise, you will sacrifice your national security and betray the Iranian people.”

Doohan's visit to Iran took place at a time when the Islamic Republic has consistently rejected requests from the "UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran" for a similar trip.
The last time that special rapporteurs on human rights managed to visit Iran before Ms. Doohan was in 2005, when the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and the Special Rapporteur on Housing traveled to Tehran.

Source: Voice of America