Iran hits out at West's tactic of using rights as 'plaything'

WASHINGTON — Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday criticized Western countries for what he called their use of human rights as a "tool" to exert pressure on other countries.

"When human rights are turned into a plaything and a tool to apply political pressure on others, the media empire of the hegemonic system also helps to replace the accused with the plaintiff in the case of systematic human rights violations," Kanaani wrote in an Instagram post.

The spokesman's comments followed Western media's reports about recent protests in Iran, which were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Iranian Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iran's morality police.

Following the recent protests in the country, the Canadian government slapped sanctions on Iranian institutions and individuals for alleged "rights violations".

Kanaani referred to the reports of the separation of thousands of indigenous children from their families in the past decades in Canada and the discovery of children's mass graves in Canada's residential schools, saying that the people of the world have not forgotten "the sad saga".

"Blurting out words about other countries and hiding behind accusations against others will not change the fact that behind the window of human rights in one of the American government's closest allies, child-killing and disregard for humanity is showing off," he added.

Also on Thursday, the US Department of the Treasury announced fresh sanctions against Iranian senior officials over their role in shutting down internet access in the country and in adopting other "violent" measures to quell the protest.

Seven senior Iranian officials were designated by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, for sanctions, including Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi, Communications Minister Eisa Zarepour, as well as five officials within Iran's security services leadership, according to the Treasury's statement.

The US action freezes any US assets of those designated and generally bars US citizens from dealing with them.

Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.

"As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of these individuals that are in the United States or in the possession or control of US persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC," the statement said.

"In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked."

Kanaani has accused the US of having "long attempted to undermine Iran's stability and security".

US President Joe Biden "should be concerned about the numerous sanctions … against the Iranian nation, the sanctions whose imposition against any nation is a clear example of a crime against humanity," he said in earlier comments.

Xinhua - Agencies