US rights claims hypocritical, aimed at achieving Washington’s illegitimate goals

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has strongly dismissed "hypocritical allegations" by the US administration in its latest report on the human rights situation in Iran, saying Washington aims to achieve its illegitimate political goals by spreading such accusations.

Khatibzadeh made the comment in response to the US State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released on Tuesday, saying the publication of repetitive and baseless reports would lend no legitimacy to such reports.

“The US government, with a history full of wars, coups, aggression, assassinations, kidnappings, economic blockades and the killing of innocent people around the world, has been the main violator of human rights and, therefore, it is in no way qualified to speak of such sublime concepts as human rights,” Khatibzadeh said on Thursday.

“The United States sheds crocodile tears for the Iranian nation while its crimes against the country ... will live on in the minds of the Iranian people forever,” he said.

“The United States' unilateral coercive measures, including illegal economic sanctions imposed [on Iran] by that country, which are a clear example of economic terrorism against the Iranian people as they prevent the import of necessary drugs for Iranian patients, have amounted to gross violation of the rights of the Iranian people.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the US administration’s human rights allegations were hypocritical and aimed at achieving the country's illegitimate political goals.

“The direct order of then US president [Donald Trump] for the cowardly assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who was a hero in the fight against terrorism in the West Asia region, has laid bare the terrorist nature of the United States.”

Khatibzadeh further noted that the US government has consistently turned a blind eye to gross and systematic violations of human rights within its own country and by its allies.

Human rights used as political instrument against Iran: Official

Iranian official laments misapplication of the issue of human rights against independent and developing countries like Iran.

The Iranian official said everyone has time and again seen various cases of racial discrimination happening against minorities and African Americans in the United States on a systemic and extensive basis, which in turn have led to widespread protests by black people and the public in the country.

“The Islamic Republic ... has always moved in the direction of realizing the rights of the great nation of Iran ... and such baseless and hypocritical statements and reports will not cause it to falter in this regard and will not weaken the resolve of the Iranian government and nation in their march to build a dignified Iran on the basis of its own religious values and principles,” Khatibzadeh concluded.

The US State Department in its annual report on April 12 once against leveled such baseless accusations against Iran as "arbitrary arrest or detention" of political activists, "denial of fair public trial," as well as "politically motivated reprisal against individuals located outside of the country."

Iran has repeatedly warned of the exploitation of human rights as a pressure tool by Western countries.

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