Statement at UNGA: Human Rights Situation in Iran

Iran's representative has delivered a statement during a UNGA session regarding the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic. The full text of the statement is as follows:

Statement by Ms. Fatemeh Arab Bafrani, First Secretary and Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
Under General Debate of the Plenary of the General Assembly
Agenda item 66: Report of the Human Rights Council
Report A/80/53

31 October 2025, New York

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

 

Madam President,

The report of the Human Rights Council presented today includes thematic and country-specific focus on the field of human rights in the Council. Among others, having an appropriate focus on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories highlights the importance of continued discussion and documentation of violations affecting the Palestinian people and their enduring pursuit of the right to self-determination.

Decades of sabotage and acts of terrorism by the rogue regime of Israel against the Palestinian people have now been compounded by its recent unprovoked and premeditated aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2025, which must be firmly condemned. The regime deliberately targeted densely populated civilian areas in several major Iranian cities, killing 1,100 civilians, including women, children, scientists, and university professors—sometimes wiping out entire families. Such actions constitute a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter, principles that all Member States, including this Council, are obliged to uphold.

Madam President,

The report of the Human Rights Council shows the necessity of which the Council must be guided by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and its discussions must be conducted in a manner that respects national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

We ‎maintain that all human rights must be equally emphasized within the Council, in ‎particular the right to development. ‎ It is our firm belief that the adoption of a covenant on the right to development, as a ‎legally binding instrument, is essential in operationalizing the right to ‎development, which must be accomplished.‎

We also hold the view that the Council should represent the voices of all States and address their concerns while the significance of national and regional particularities and various historical, cultural, and religious backgrounds, their legal frameworks as well as the level of development and specific challenges outside their influence and beyond their control, must be borne in mind in promoting and protecting human rights and dignity.

Unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) illegally imposed by the United States and the European Union demonstrate a clear picture of exploiting the developing world to serve the geopolitical interests of the imposing nations. There is no doubt that the Special Rapporteur's reports both to the HRC and to the third committee of the GA provide an accurate picture of the ways in which unilateral coercive measures violate international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the targeted countries.

Madam President,

All Council mandates and reports must be reviewed for effectiveness. Politically motivated mandates that compromise the independence of their holders risk alienating the concerned country and burdening the UN system, a problem further exacerbated by the rise in country-specific resolutions.

My delegation firmly rejects the establishment of the so-called Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, the Special Rapporteurship, and the related country-specific resolutions on the Islamic Republic of Iran, which are biased and politically motivated. These overlapping mandates, reporting in both Geneva and New York compounded by the parallel reporting of the Secretary-General, mandated by the Human Rights Council resolution under the pressure of certain Western countries politicize the process and add no real value to the human rights discourse. Given the UN’s financial constraints, such inefficiencies within the Human Rights Council must be urgently reviewed.

The overlap and duplication of mandates of human rights mechanisms against Iran was witnessed yesterday during an interactive dialogue with the relevant mechanisms in the Third Committee.

Human rights issues must be addressed through constructive and non-confrontational dialogue. Objectivity, impartiality, non-selectivity and transparency should guide all human rights discourses. Iran remains committed to advancing human rights and preserving human dignity while continuing to cooperate with the OHCHR and the HRC mechanisms, including treaty bodies, and the Universal Periodic Review.

Madam President,

We call upon all States to refrain from participating in politically motivated attempts. We urge the international community to oppose the instrumentalization of international human rights mechanisms.

Thank you.