Iran steps up engagement on UN rights concerns

Iran regime is showing signs of succumbing to global pressures to open up to international inquiry on its brutal and inhumane use of the death penalty and other critical human rights issues.
But still, beyond a willingness to discuss UN grievances, Iran has yet to take concrete steps to improve its rights record, Ahmed Shaheed told reporters.
Shaheed is due to present his annual report to the UN General Assembly this week, the first compiled since the historic nuclear deal.
The rights expert said he was 'marginally optimistic' in this year’s report, compared to 2014.
In a first, Shaheed last month sat down with members of Iran’s judiciary and security forces to discuss the crackdown on drugs that has in part fueled the high number of executions.
More than 800 people have been executed so far this year, and Iran is on track to reach 1,000 by the end of the year, its highest total in years.
There is no indication, however, that Iran would be willing to change course and invite Shaheed to visit. No such invitation has been extended since his appointment four years ago.
Other than meetings with a broader range of Iranian officials, Tehran is responding to requests for more information from the special rapporteur about specific cases.
Shaheed’s voluminous report on the rights situation this year is for the first time matched by an equally voluminous response by Iran, a sign that Tehran takes the UN assessment seriously.
Other than concerns on executions, the report criticizes the jailing of journalists and plans for new legislation that will set back women’s rights, by requiring, for instance, that they get approval from their husbands to work.