TEHRAN - Hamid Reza Asefi, a former Iranian diplomat, said on Saturday that the issue of the human rights has become a tool to exert pressure against “independent” Islamic countries.

“The human rights has turned into a tool to exert pressure against the Islamic countries especially the countries which are independent and seek to stand on their own feet,” he said in a panel discussion on the occasion of the Islamic Human Rights and Human Dignity Day.

He noted that the human rights is not a Western issue, adding the Islamic culture includes principles of human rights.

Elsewhere, Asefi dismissed Western accusations against Iran in the area of human rights, saying Western countries themselves support dictators in suppressing people. 

“The European countries and the U.S. have repeatedly violated human rights, because of their worries about the Islamic awakening; they have countered the countries and people who sought to stand on their own feet,” stated Asefi.

Asefi who was Iran’s ambassador to Paris in the 1990s said the Western countries’ support for terrorists in Syria constitute an example of human rights violation.

Elsewhere, he called for convergence among Islamic countries, saying that Iran can play an important role in this respect.

NA/PA