‘UN rapporteur’s Iran visit to help shed light on impact of sanctions on people’

Kazem Gharibabadi, secretary of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights and the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs, offered explanations on Thursday about the visit by Alena Douhan, who is tasked with compiling a report on “the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights” in Iran.

According to the UN, during her sojourn, which will last from May 7 to 18, Douhan is set to “examine, in the spirit of co-operation and dialogue, whether and to what extent the adoption, maintenance or implementation of unilateral sanctions impedes the full realization of the rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.”

Gharibabadi said the UN rapporteur was scheduled to hold a series of meetings with representatives of state institutions, private sector and non-governmental organizations.

Douhan will also pay visits to some institutions, Gharibabadi said, without naming them.

The Iranian nation has long been the prime target of tough US sanctions, which work, among other things, to hamper the country’s banking transactions and, consequently, purchases of medicine, medical equipment, and other humanitarian supplies.