TEHRAN – The Iranian Foreign Ministry has denounced a recent UN human rights resolution against the Islamic Republic as “refutable and unacceptable”.

The resolution “which was pushed by Canada and some other Western countries” has used human rights as a political tool, ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday.

Such use of human rights “against the independent countries of the world” is a “condemnable and erroneous act” that will only result in the weakening of the notion of human rights, the diplomat said.

He stressed that as a religious-democratic system, the Islamic Republic always makes effort to uphold its international obligations with regards to human rights.

The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday approved the resolution by a vote of 83 to 30.

Russia and China, two members of the General Assembly, voted against the move. Many countries abstained, saying their abstention is intended to encourage Tehran to cooperate with the UN in protecting human rights.

The resolution nevertheless welcomed some recent progress on Iran’s human rights record, especially a new legislation to limit the death penalty for drug offenses.

SP/PA