UN rights envoy for Iran hopes for improvement if nuclear deal clinched
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Human rights in Iran appear to have worsened under President Hassan Rouhani despite his reformist agenda, but Tehran may take steps to improve the situation if a nuclear deal is concluded, the UN rights investigator on Iran said on Monday.
More than 200 people have been executed in Iran already this year, Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, told a news briefing in Geneva as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif held talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
"In terms of overall impact of the negotiations, there is a lot of concern amongst the Iranian society that the nuclear file may be casting a shadow over the human rights discussion...My view however is that if there is improvement in terms of the engagement on security issues, there is potential for improvement in other areas as engagement widens," Shaheed said.
