Iran says renewing UN special rapporteur mandate 'spiteful'

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, has condemned as "selective and spiteful" the U.N. Human Rights Council's resolution to renew the mandate of the U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, saying it was a politically-motivated move by a few countries abusing U.N. mechanisms, according to state TV.

Ghasemi said Friday that the U.N. Human Rights Council extended the mandate of the special rapporteur on Iran for the seventh consecutive year despite the lack of endorsement by the majority of member states, and through reliance on the vote of a "certain political bloc" and its few allies in the region.

The spokesman said such a "confrontational policy and destructive and failed approach" pursued through the "exertion of pressure on other countries" would regrettably undermine the U.N.'s credibility.