TEHRAN — Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has censured the European Union (EU) for its anti-Iran stance at the Human Rights Council, saying it showed political use of such concept by the EU.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers the European Union’s move to issue a joint statement at the Human Rights Council to be unacceptable,” Khatibzadeh said in a statement on Friday. 

“They (some European states) are competing with each other for the sale of billions of dollars in arms to Saudi Arabia and the region’s despots for the massacre of defenseless people of Yemen,” Foreign Ministry spokesman says. He said the EU’s statement, with a selective and baseless stance, lacks validity and credibility and runs counter to the approach of promotion of human rights.

The spokesman described as “unacceptable” any abuse of the human rights mechanisms as well as interference in the internal affairs of Iran.

“It’s not anything new that some European states are silent and indifferent in the face of the gravest violations of human rights by themselves and their allies. They are competing with each other for the sale of billions of dollars in arms to Saudi Arabia and the region’s despots for the massacre of defenseless people of Yemen,” he said, according to the Foreign Ministry website.

“They (certain European states) describe the suppression of protestors, killing of black people, massacre of minorities, particularly the Muslims, the harassment and torture of prisoners and putting pressure on the migrants inside the European Union borders as the enforcement of law, but at the same time call the judicial measures on the basis of the penal law made by the competent courts of the other countries a violation of human rights,” Khatibzadeh stated.

“Such double standards show that this group of countries is not sincere in advocating human rights and reveals the political use of such concept,” he said.

“The development and promotion of human rights at national, regional and international levels within the framework of religious commitments and in compliance with the Constitution, domestic law and international treaties have always been among Iran’s priorities, and it has practically committed itself to observing them,” the spokesman added.

MH/PA