TEHRAN (Iran News)  Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has left for New York for an upcoming UN General Assembly meeting, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei.

During his stay in New York, Araghchi is scheduled to have meetings and consultations with a number of his counterparts from other participating countries.

President Masoud Pezeshkian will also leave Tehran for New York on Tuesday to attend and deliver a speech at the UN General Assembly, which begins on September 23 and will run until September 27.

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IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

TEHRAN – Iran has condemned a resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic, saying the document lacks legal status.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Thursday that the countries behind the resolution, drafted by Canada, have a record of gross and systematic rights violations, especially through military interventions and weapons sales to dictatorial and authoritarian regimes.

The remarks came one day after the General Assembly adopted draft resolution II, dubbed “Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” by 82 votes in favor, 30 against and 64 abstentions.

The resolution expressed “serious concern” about what it called “the alarmingly high frequency of death penalty use” in Iran and urged the country “to address the poor conditions of prisons; release women human rights defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights; end rights violations against persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic or other minorities; and ensure free presidential elections in 2021.”

Khatibzadeh said that the countries behind the resolution have, under the influence of American bullying, turned a blind eye to the US economic terrorism against the Iranian nation and turned into Washington’s accomplices instead of condemning its illegal and inhumane sanctions.

Iran has condemned a UN resolution, drafted and proposed by Canada, as a rehash of “groundless” claims about the Islamic Republic’s human rights situation, slamming the “hypocrisy” of the “notorious” group of countries that voted for it.

He also advised Canada and other key proponents of the anti-Iran resolution to stop their “meddlesome and immoral approach” towards independent nations.

“Such non-constructive measures do not help promote the human rights situation globally but rather perpetuate negative stereotypes and political labeling against independent countries,” Khatibzadeh said.

“We condemn the move by the Canadian government and other founders of this resolution, which is a clear example of abusing the transcendent concepts and values ​​of human rights meant to advance short-sighted political motives; [We believe such resolutions] have no legal effect.”

The spokesman also stressed that the repetition of fake reports by these countries against the Iranian people would only further discredit their claims of advocating human rights.

Last month, Canada proposed a similar anti-Iran resolution, which was approved at the UNGA Third Committee with 79 ‘yes’ votes.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson had already mentioned a list of the governments initiating and sponsoring resolutions against Iran, and had denounced Canada’s shameful move to rally “a group of notorious governments in the human rights sphere”, including the U.S. regime, the Zionist regime, and Bahrain for training Iranian people in human rights.

Khatibzadeh had also called on the Canadian officials to focus their attention on correcting their anti-human performance inside and outside Canada, stop the Canadian regime’s systematic policy of genocide of native Canadian people, and be held accountable for aiding and abetting the anti-human crimes committed by the Saudi and Israeli regimes against people of Yemen and Palestine.

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According To Iran News, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman denounced the ratification of a recent human rights resolution by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) against Iran.

In a statement on Thursday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi deplored the adoption of the resolution on human rights against Iran by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, saying it reflects the hypocrisy and two-facedness of its propitiators and therefore lacks legitimacy and credibility.

The spokesman said the modern day criminals, who are proponents and supporters of this resolution, have committed any crime against humanity including killing children, mutilating of the critics and economic terrorism against free and independent nations have nothing to do with human rights.

“Governments, which have a long history of systematic human rights abuses, and people around the world remember the bitter and excruciating experiences of their interference, and today are the victims of endless wars and dictatorships and the occupation of (these governments’) allies, are not in a position to give the Iranian government and people human rights recommendations,” Mousavi added.

He also called the resolution unrealistic and unidirectional, adding that the resolution is adopted against Iran while one of its main sponsors is the United States.

The spokesman said the US is violating the most fundamental rights of more than 83 million Iranian citizens, especially women, children, the elderly and patients through economic terrorism against the Iranians.

The child-killing occupation regime of Israel and reactionary regimes of the region are supporting this resolution while they have the blood of defenseless Palestinian and Yemeni people and their domestic critics on their hands, the Iranian spokesman deplored.

“On this basis, the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns Western countries’ instrumental and political use of human rights against independent states and regrets that UN mechanisms are being abused,” Mousavi underlined.

He went on to say that from the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran, an appropriate place for assessing the human rights situation in countries is the UPR mechanism at the Human Rights Council that deals with all countries’ cases without discrimination.

“Our country’s constructive and active participation in this mechanism just one week before the adoption of this political resolution demonstrates Iran’s seriousness in promoting human rights and fulfilling its international obligations through constructive cooperation and dialogue-based mechanisms,” he added, the Foreign Ministry reported.

Mousavi also emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s respect for human rights is one of the country’s sharia and legal requirements and an issue of national interests and security that it has always been pursued.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a religious democratic system, has taken steps within the framework of national commitments and adherence to the Constitution, civil law and international obligations to promote and uphold human and citizens’ rights at national, regional and international levels. In practice, the Islamic Republic is also committed to following it,” Mousavi stressed.

A United Nations General Assembly committee has expressed concern about what they called Iran’s continued attacks against religious minorities.

This came in a resolution adopted today by a vote of 84 to 30, with 66 abstentions, from the Third Committee of the General Assembly on November 14.

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Foreign ministers of the remaining signatories to the agreement may meet on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, told reporters on Thursday, TASS news agency said.

The 73rd session of the 193-member UNGA will open at the UN headquarters on September 18.

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The 72nd session of the UN General Assembly which closed on December 22, 2017 adopted a further draft on combating sand and dust storms. It recognized that such weather had inflicted substantial economic, social and environmental damage on the inhabitants of the world’s arid, semiarid and dry sub-humid areas, underscoring the need to treat and promptly take measures to address them.

Sand and dust storms put many Iranian specially those residing southwestern areas of Iran to considerable inconvenience which requires national, regional and international cooperation to address it, Gholamali Khoshroo told IRNA news agency.

“After rounds of talk lasting for two and half months finally the draft of the resolution was adopted,” he said, explaining, “the resolution has recognized the negative effects of sand and dust storms on the citizens health and considered it as an obstacle to achieve sustainable development goals and has called for urgent measures.”

Khoshroo went on to say that the resolution has prompted World Health Organization (WHO) to work out international and regional strategies to fight the health hazards posed by the sand and dust storms.

Combatting sand and dust storms require “national determination” and close regional and international cooperation, the resolution tasks the UN to facilitate international cooperation and device a global mechanism to fight the issue, he added.

Ambassador to the UN further highlighted that all responsible UN agency are required to join hands to address the predicament.

The resolution has also underlined the need for increased technical support and capacity building for addressing the issue and assign UN Environment Program (UNEP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and WHO to provide the necessary support to the affected countries, he said.

As proposed by Iran a conference will be held in July 2018 with UN high-ranking officials, representatives from other countries, NGOs, and researchers in attendance to discuss ways to improve cooperation in abating sand and dust storms, he noted.

Following Iran’s incessant efforts to foster international support to fight sand and dust storms representatives from more than 40 countries convened in Tehran on July 3-5, 2017 to look collectively into dust and sand storms.

The meeting entitled “International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms: Challenges and Practical Solutions” was hosted by Iran’s Department of Environment and Foreign Ministry, with the cooperation of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, UN Environment and the UN Development Program among others.

Ministers and high-level representatives participating in the UN-backed conference wrapped up the second day with the Tehran Ministerial Declaration, agreeing to “cooperate on combating SDS at sub-regional regional, and international levels.”

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