At the third committee of the UN General Assembly Canada targeted Iran for its human rights record while staying silent about the human rights condition in Saudi Arabia and voting against a resolution reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
30 member states voted against the resolution proposed by Canada on Iran and another 68 abstained (total of 98 countries). However, the resolution received the support of 85 countries including Saudi Arabia, U.S. and Israel and was passed at the committee level. The resolution is expected to pass at the General Assembly later in December this year.
UN Saudi ambassador supported Canada’s resolution on Iran and said:
In her statement Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, said:
Global Affairs Canada refused to respond to follow up questions we sent to them. In an email response from Global Affairs Canada they referenced the statement by Minister Freeland and said they have no further comments to add.
In a letter to the UN Secretary-General dated September 21, 2018 Iran UN Ambassador Gholamali Khoshroo made the following comments about the Secretary-General’s report on the situation of human rights in Iran: