The U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee has again rebuked Iran for human rights violations.
The assembly's Third Committee, which addresses a range of social, humanitarian and human rights issues, on Thursday adopted a nonbinding resolution drafted by Canada on a 76-35 vote, with 68 abstentions.
The resolution was based on a report by a U.N. investigator who said executions in Iran have been rising at "an exponential rate'' since 2005 and could top 1,000 this year.
The investigation was also critical of Tehran's crackdown on activists, journalists and dissidents.
Iran's deputy U.N. representative, Ambassador Hossein Dehghani, slammed the resolution as a "selective and politicized distortion of facts."
Earlier Thursday, the committee passed a similar resolution condemning "gross" human rights violations in North Korea. The vote was 112-19, with 50 abstentions.
North Korean Deputy Ambassador Choe Myong-Nam dismissed the vote as a "product of political confrontation, plot and conspiracy of the United States and other hostile forces."
Both resolutions will go to the General Assembly for votes next month.
