adminpolice of “savage” aggression against demonstrators.
Britain helped lead Western condemnation of Iran’s crackdown on protests against Ahmadinejad’s re-election in June 2009. He was quick on Wednesday to criticise the British police’s “crushing attack” on unarmed citizens.
In a letter to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Britain’s top diplomat in Tehran said she hoped such openness would encourage Tehran to allow a UN-appointed investigator looking into alleged human rights violations in Iran to enter the country.
“I would remind you that the UK has a standing invitation to all UN special rapporteurs and has facilitated the visits of a number of these rapporteurs to the UK in recent years,” British Charge d’Affaires Jane Marriott wrote, noting that Ahmadinejad had called for the United Nations to condemn Britain’s action.
“I urge the Iranian government to extend a similar courtesy to the dedicated UN special rapporteur for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, to enable him to address the international community’s grave concerns about ongoing human rights violations within Iran.”
The UN Human Rights Council voted in March to nominate a special rapporteur for Iran to look into its crackdown on the opposition and frequent use of the death penalty Iran has so far declined to allow Shaheed, a former Maldives foreign minister, to visit. – Reuters
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