Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Western countries' "instrumental use" of the United Nations Human Rights Council to pressure the Islamic Republic must come to an end. He made the statement during a Sunday meeting at the Ministry with other members belonging to the newly established committee that investigates externally influenced riots the country has seen in 2022. 

President Ebrahim Raisi, who decreed the special committee, was praised for his action of “responsibility and seriousness about protecting and promoting human rights.”

Addressing the issue at hand, Amir-Abdollahian refuted the West's anti-Iran claims of the Republic not endorsing human rights, saying they "lack legal and moral validity." He then denounced the exploitation of the UNHCR by certain Western nations. 

"The mechanisms imposed by rights institutions on the Islamic Republic under the influence and pressure of a few Western states have no legal justification and legitimacy,” he said.

The chair of the committee, Hossein Mozaffar, on the other hand, highlighted the West's hypocrisy in their usage of the UNHRC to command human rights in foreign countries, while supporting and funding the Israeli genocide in Gaza, killing over 21,000 Palestinians in the process. 

Iran is two steps ahead

The West has politically weaponized Mahsa Amini's death, which was proven to be caused by illness, to promote anti-Iran sentiments in the country. In an attempt to stir up a colored revolution in Iran, the West mobilized agents to launch anti-establishment riots in the country. 

However, the West's motives are loud, clear, and crumbling. In September, the IRGC's Intelligence Department and the Ministry of Security announced the successful dismantling of a network plotting to incite unrest within the country.

In a joint statement, the two governmental agencies hailed the operation as a significant blow to an organized network fomenting unrest in Iran.

The statement revealed that "members of this network had received financial support from the United States' Department of State and were directed through an Iranian opposition politician residing abroad."

It further noted that they had been actively recruiting women and planning their involvement in riots.

Read more: Iranian opposition unity 'fractured' a year after riots, AFP reports