WANA (Jul 16) – In a strong denunciation of what he calls “American human rights,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Iranian Nationals, Vahid Jalalzadeh, declared that the world today is a victim of U.S.-style human rights abuses.

 

Speaking at a Tehran event titled “American Human Rights from the Perspective of Victims,” Jalalzadeh said the latest “nail in the coffin” of American human rights was driven by the recent war against Iran.

 

Jalalzadeh, who also heads the Central Headquarters for the Week of Revisiting and Exposing American Human Rights, criticized the global double standards on human rights, pointing out that many countries labeled by the U.S. as violators are themselves victims of American policies. He cited the example of Hamas and other jihadist groups designated as terrorist organizations because they resist “the main violator of human rights,” referring to Israel.

 

Highlighting the devastating impact of the conflict on civilians, Jalalzadeh said hospitals in Gaza have been repeatedly targeted and destroyed by bombs supplied by the U.S. to Israel. He accused the so-called global human rights frameworks of being hollow, given the widespread violations across Africa, Latin America, West Asia, Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran itself.

 

Jalalzadeh also condemned Western universities and governments, accusing them of suppressing protests against Israeli actions. He described how police crackdowns on students in the U.S. and Europe go unpunished by international bodies, contrasting this with the harsh accusations leveled against other countries.

 

“The executioner and the victim have switched places,” Jalalzadeh said, quoting Iran’s Supreme Leader to emphasize that the narrative on human rights has been distorted by Western powers.

 

The deputy minister further revealed that Iran has established a permanent secretariat to monitor and expose what it calls American human rights violations.

 

In a pointed criticism of Western diplomatic behavior, Jalalzadeh revealed that European embassies in Tehran have made unusual demands regarding their detained nationals accused of espionage.

 

One ambassador reportedly requested special dietary accommodations for a vegetarian detainee involved in intelligence activities against Iran. Another demanded an orthopedic mattress for a prisoner suffering from sciatica.

 

“They ask for an orthopedic mattress for their spy,” Jalalzadeh said, contrasting these requests with how Iranian detainees are treated abroad. He cited the case of Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari, arrested in France, who “does not even receive her basic rights in prison,” including being denied certain food items because they are not on the prison menu.

 

He also recalled the treatment of Hakim Elahi, former head of Sweden’s Islamic Center, who was held for 22 days in a metal solitary cell without proper medical care or heating.

 

Jalalzadeh concluded: “This is how they treat our prisoners, yet they expect us to provide orthopedic mattresses for their spies.”

Iranian citizen Mahdieh Esfandiari, a French translator and university lecturer, was arrested in France. Social media/ WANA News Agency