TEHRAN – The head of Iran's High Council for Human Rights has said appointing a special human rights rapporteur for Iran is unwarranted and unjustified. 

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always maintained a principled stance on the appointment of special rapporteur for a country and links this to double standards and arbitrary approaches of some specific countries within the framework of the (UN) Human Rights Council,” said Mohammad Javad Larijani on Saturday. 
The human right official made the remarks in reply to a reporter asking about introducing a new rapporteur for Iran now that Ahmed Shaheed is nearing the end of his term. 
Ahmed Shaheed will be stepping down in November one year earlier before his Iranian mission ends. He will be replaced by human rights activist Asma Jahangir, a Pakistani national.
Ahmed Shaheed said in his twitter account on Wednesday that Jahangir will replace him.
In his March 2016 report, Ahmad Shaheed called on Iran to, inter alia, consider a moratorium on “the use of death penalty,” ease crackdown on “freedom of expression and opinion,” and leave “journalists, lawyers, religious minorities and individuals” with more leeway to “defend the rights of women, children, workers, and ethnic minorities.”

AK/PA