A meeting has been held at the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss international developments on human rights and Iran’s approach in that regard, bringing together the chair and members of an ad hoc committee set up to probe the incidents that happened in Iran in fall of 2022. In the meeting, Hossein Mozaffar elaborated on the activities and measures by the president’s ad hoc committee formed to comprehensively investigate the different dimensions of the unrest in the fall of 2022, underscoring the committee’s determination to discharge the responsibilities and duties it is entrusted with. He mentioned the reality that human rights at the international level are a tool in the hands of some Western states to exert political pressure on independent, developing countries. He said the hypocritical and double-standard approach adopted by the United States and its Western allies in this regard has undercut the lofty concepts associated with human rights, adding, “Now, with the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the support offered to the occupying Israeli regime by the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany and certain other Western countries, no doubt is left in this regard.” The head of the committee added Iran’s viewpoint on the issue of human rights is an original and real one which seeks to promote the rights and dignity of its citizen regardless of the political stigmas and fabrications put forward by the United States and other adversaries. He said the establishment of the committee was aimed at providing an effective mechanism to listen to, and follow up on the demands of citizens with regards to the unrest in the fall of 2022. Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, in turn, praised the president’s very important initiative to launch an all-out investigation into the incidents which happened in the fall of 2022 and review all the root causes behind, and contributors to them in order to protect the rights of citizens and safeguard individuals’ dignity. The foreign minister said the president’s decision indicated Iran’s sense of responsibility and determination to support and promote human rights. He underlined the mechanisms imposed on Iran by human rights institutions under the pressure of a handful of Western countries are illegitimate and not legally justifiable.  The foreign minister touched upon the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the blatant and perpetual violations of Palestinians’ rights over the past 8 decades as well as the United States and West’s all-out support for the Zionist regime’s occupation and apartheid, and dismissed human rights claims by some Western countries against Iran as lacking any legal and moral credibility. Amirabdollahian called for an end to certain Western countries using the UN Human Rights Council as a tool.  It is noteworthy that the meeting was attended by deputies foreign minister, Iranian directors general, senior advisors and some Iranian ambassadors. Among those present was Secretary of the national Human Rights Committee and member of the ad hoc committee Kazem Gharibabadi as well as Ms. Paad, who sits on the ad hoc committee and is tasked with following up on social rights and freedoms, along with Ms. Elahian, a member of the committee and the chairperson of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee. They presented reports on the performance and activities of the ad hoc committee while expressing their viewpoints and suggestions in order to facilitate and expedite the said committee’s work. The ad hoc committee was formed at the president's order and was tasked with investigating the incidents of 2022.