The UN expert on human rights in Iran has said in a report that US sanctions reimposed on the country in 2018 have hit oil sales and caused the devaluation of its currency.
“The negative impact of the reimposition of economic sanctions” by Washington has been “felt strongly by ordinary Iranians,” Javaid Rehman said in his report to the General Assembly circulated Friday.
“The sanctions have hit oil sales, imposed wide-ranging restrictions on traders and businesses and triggered the devaluation of the Iranian currency,” he said.
“All these factors have contributed to raising the scale of austerity and pushing inflation higher. Rising levels of unemployment and poverty have also adversely affected the rights to health and education and access to other basic services for millions of Iranians,” he stated.
The report also saw increasing restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and continuing violations of the right to life, liberty and a fair trial.
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“The Iranian judiciary has continued to implement the death penalty, including on child offenders. Besides the recent release of Nizar Zakka, there has been no progress made in the cases of arbitrarily detained foreign or dual nationals,” it said.
Zakka, a Lebanese businessman with US permanent residency, who was detained in Tehran for more than four years on charges of collaborating against Iran, was released in June.
Rehman referred to the continued intimidation of human rights defenders, members of minority communities, lawyers, journalists, including journalists with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Persian service, labor and trade union activists and women protesting the compulsory veiling law.
Ethnic minorities including Arab Ahvazis, Azerbaijani Turks, Baluchis and Kurds also suffer from denial of their human rights, he said.
According to Rehman, Kurdish political prisoners charged with national security offenses represent almost half the total number of political prisoners in Iran.